


Pardoned

by AOHara



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale, 半妖の夜叉姫 | Hanyou no Yashahime | Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dysfunctional Family, F/F, F/M, Modern Era, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prison, Rating May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:08:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 37,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28991211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AOHara/pseuds/AOHara
Summary: After spending four years in prison, Moroha is granted parole and has to learn to cope in the outside world as well as deal with the estrangement of her family. But before anyone else can forgive her, she has to forgive herself. ONGOING
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/InuYasha, Rin/Sesshoumaru (InuYasha)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 69





	1. Pardoned

"Do you have everything you arrived with?"

Moroha's eyes snapped up from her early release form, turning her disbelieving gaze to the correctional officer seated in front of her behind the steel desk. She could still hardly believe she was getting out, her time here was up. Moroha hadn't processed it entirely, yet. She had been granted parole and she knew her release date was coming up. But it had felt more like a brief idea in passing, or a mythical event that wasn't actually going to occur in reality. It hadn't hit her until this morning when she woke up and ate her last meal that this was, indeed, happening.

The wolf youkai raised an eyebrow awaiting her response, and she examined the plastic baggy that contained her personal belongings. Cell phone? _Check_. Lipstick? _Check_. Wallet? _Check..._

Moroha glanced down at her attire. She was wearing an oversized white shirt that had been tucked into her pants, with a pair of loose-fitting jeans that had were cuffed at the bottom. They were far too long for her, and she had to roll them up to make sure they did not drag on the ground. The guards had provided her with a simple pair of black loafers, she could not remember what happened to the shoes she had been wearing when she arrived here.

As basic as the outfit was, Moroha marveled at it. _The first time in years I've worn actual clothes..._

But she _was_ missing something. Something important. She looked back up at the guard and said simply, "I'm missing my coat."

Hakkaku gave her a small, reassuring grin. "Don't worry, Ginta is on his way to get it for you. He'll be back in a minute."

She breathed a small sigh of relief. She had worried, in the back of her mind, that they might have gotten rid of it. "Awesome. I think it will really tie the outfit together," she joked, stretching her arms casually. "Actually, maybe a belt would look cute too."

Hakkaku outright smiled at her now. "Can't give you a belt, but I'm glad you're happy with it. Most of the girls complain." A clawed finger reached out to point to a dotted line on the paper. "Sign here stating you've received everything, the warden and I already have our signatures on here."

"Got a pen, wolf boy?"

"Hey, watch it, inmate!" He joshed back, handing her a black pen. "You still have to respect me until you leave, you know!" She smirked at his teasing tone and took it from him, leaning down closer to get a good look at the document. His signature, Hubo Hakkaku, was messily scribbled at the bottom. _He needs to work on his handwriting_ , she thought to herself, quickly signing underneath his own designation. Moroha was eager to get going, to finally participate in the outside world again. Once she was done, she handed the pen back to him.

"Good, now take that with you and hand it to the guard at the gate. They'll let you through."

She nodded, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Ginta rounding the corner with her jacket, the red fabric in a bundle.

"Sorry I was late!" Ginta apologized, giving a little bow. "It took me a little while to find it..."

Moroha shook her head, reaching out for the jacket. "Don't worry about it, I'm just glad I got it back." She took it from him and held it out in front of her to examine it. "I wouldn't want to freeze out there, after all." _And it belongs to Oyaji._

Moroha gave it a quick once-over. No tears or rips, and the lining on the inside of the garment was already warming her hands. It was still in good shape, thank the kami. She brought it close to her face to sniff the material and inhaled deeply. Normally it smelled like her with the weak, yet persisting scent of her father lurking behind her own. But now it reeked of strong, chemical-grade laundry detergent, and any scent of its previous wearers no longer remained.

She couldn't help but make a face, and her nose crinkled. Moroha peered at Ginta, "Did you guys wash this?"

"Yeah, it's protocol," Hakkaku explained, and she shifted her eyes back to him. "We don't want to send you out with dirty clothes, after all."

"I guess." She replied, a little disappointment lingering in her tone as she put her arms through the sleeves and shrugged it onto her shoulders. She snatched the baggy with her personal items and shoved it in the left pocket, and then grabbed the form and placed it in the other. Ginta lightly grabbed her by the upper arm, ready to lead her out.

"Good luck, inmate," Hakkaku said, giving her a little wave. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I hope I never see you again."

She chuckled, before giving him a respectful bow in gratitude. "I hope I don't run into you again either."

* * *

Moroha winced and squinted her eyes as the metal door opened and the bright sunlight bouncing off the remaining snow shined in her face. The cold air whooshed in and enveloped her, sending a chill throughout her body in spite of being covered by the Fire-rat fur.

"Let's go before the door locks, Taisho-chan!" Ginta exclaimed, holding it open. Her name sounded weird coming from his mouth, it had been the first time in a long while that the guards had referred to her as anything but her prisoner number or 'inmate.' "The magnet locks don't take long to come back on."

Moroha scoots out the door behind him, and after a few seconds a loud, resounding beep rang through the air to signify the locks had reinitiated. He closed it behind them, made sure the door was fastened, and his hand closed around her upper arm again. "Once you go through this part of the fence, you won't need me or anyone else to accompany you to the guard who'll let you out."

"Sounds good. I'd rather you lead me like this than put me in cuffs anyway."

He let out a 'hmmm' in acknowledgment as he began to lead her along. Freedom was so close she could almost taste it. "You have someone coming to pick you up, right? You're not from Osaka, are you?"

"Yeah, I have someone coming," she answered, keeping her eyes focused on the concrete out of habit. "My aunt should be here waiting for me. She knows the area pretty well, I think."

"Perfect," said Ginta. The chainlink perimeter was in sight now, with the gate leading outside just beyond it. "You've been in here for four years now, haven't you? You must be excited."

"I am," she answered, "but to be honest it feels like I've been in here way longer. I'm kinda nervous."

"Most people are. But Yawaragi gave you a list of community resources you could use, didn't she? And at least you have your family to support you. A lot of people here don't have that."

 _Some people in my family, anyway_ , she thought to herself bitterly. Moroha wouldn't dare voice that out loud, though. "Yeah, she did."

"See? You'll do just fine. Just remember everything she told you."

They approached the chainlink gate, and Ginta let go of her arm to tap his identification on the scanner. The lock disengaged, and he opened the door quickly before they latched back on. He mumbled under his breath about the magnets turning on too quickly - the second time he had done so in the last five minutes - before looking at her and motioning her through the exit.

"I can't go past this point since I have to get back," Ginta told her, but he offered her a small bow. "But I wish you well, Taisho-chan!"

Moroha offered him another smile and bowed, more deeply than he had for her. "Thank you for everything you've all done for me," she straightened back up and shuffled through the gate so he could shut it. "Really, I'm grateful."

Ginta looked a little embarrassed and scratched the back of his head. He was smiling widely, though. "Take everything you've learned here and put it to good use. Take care now!"

The wolf youkai swung on his heel and cheerfully walked back towards to prison facility. Moroha watched as he walked away, and then looked back at the grey, concrete building that made up the jail complex.

 _Good riddance_ , she mused to herself, but a small bit of sadness persisted in the back of her mind. _I'll miss everyone, though._ Moroha began thinking of all the people she had met there, prisoners and officers. Over the last week, she had studied their faces closely, longer than she maybe ought to have. She tried to etch every detail about them all into her memory, as though that would make it harder to forget them. Moroha would probably never see any of them again, she realized.

_But it's for the best._

She turned her back on the place she had called home for four years and, hardened in her resolve to return to the real world and succeed, walked towards the tall, looming metal gate that separated her from it.

* * *

"Opening the gate!"

The siren announcing the opening of the entryway tolled so loudly that Moroha's sensitive ears rang a little. She licked her lips in anticipation, and her tongue tingled slightly from nervousness. _This is it...! Finally!_

Moroha watched as the large door securing the outermost perimeter slid open, and it moved agonizingly slow. Once her early release form was looked over and approved, the correctional officer monitoring the entry point had told her to wait until the door was completely open before stepping out. Moroha stood rooted in her spot in front of it, and couldn't help but wonder if this was the final test of her patience and discipline. _Don't move, don't move don't move don't move._

The door finally slid past her, and she was finally able to peer outside. Her heart jumped when she saw a woman - her aunt - standing there. From the eager look on her face, Moroha could tell her aunt had anticipated this moment almost as much as she had herself.

With a final boom, the door reached the end of its track. The door was open. "All clear, go on!"

Moroha stepped foot into the outside world for the first time in what felt like forever. Was it just her, or was the air fresher out here? Crisp, even? The smells of the nearby city of Osaka were faint, but there. Anyone of the youkai or hanyou sort wasn't able to smell them within the prison walls. If the scents had been any stronger, it would have been overwhelming. Moroha just wasn't used to it anymore.

The woman who had been waiting looked her straight in the face and was grinning from ear to ear. She was wearing a light pink designer peacoat, and underneath all Moroha could see were her black leotards and black heels. Her long, wispy dark brown hair flowed along her shoulders and down her back. Even in simple outdoor clothing, she managed to look beautiful. Luxurious, even.

"Rin," Moroha greeted, smiling. "It's been a while."

"I know," Rin answered, frowning a little. "I'm sorry I haven't come to see you this month, we've been getting ready to go to New York and-"

"It's fine, I don't care," Moroha cut her off, still beaming. "I'm just really glad to see you."

Rin let all the air she had been holding out in a large huff, her breath visible in the chilly March air. There was a rustle of paper as Rin brought her hands from around behind her back. She was holding a brown paper bag, and Rin held it out to her. "I brought you something to eat."

Moroha sniffed the air, it smelled heavily of salt. Lots of salt. She took it from her aunt and opened the paper bag. Without lifting her head, she looked at her aunt and smirked. "Wacdonalds, huh?"

"I know, it's not fancy," Rin fretted, "but we need to hit the road and the guards were running late letting you out. I don't know what you like, so I just got a burger, fries and Coke. I left the drink in the car. I figured you could eat it on the way," Rin casually brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "Once we get back maybe we could order out later? Your call."

"Yeah, we could do that," she replied but trailed off as Moroha reached into the foodstuffs and grabbed a fry between her claws. _Oh yeah,_ she reveled to herself, _this is going to be good._ She put it in her mouth, and couldn't help the squealing sound of joy that left her mouth. "Mmmm! Damn, it's been so long since I've had this," Moroha exclaimed, wrapping the top of the bag back up for the time being to keep the heat of the food inside. Yes, she was definitely looking forward to chowing down on this. "Good call, Oba-san."

Rin nodded, and suddenly a more solemn, sad smile crossed her face. An emotion more complex, and Moroha couldn't recognize it. The younger woman frowned a little at this sudden change of mood. "Are you okay, Rin?"

Rin nodded, and after a few seconds, suddenly closed the distance to hug her. Tightly.

"I am so glad you're here Moroha-chan," the shihanyou couldn't help but tense as she heard her aunt's voice crack. Instead of the salt from the food, she could now smell the salt of tears. "I really mean that..."

Moroha nodded against her shoulder and wrapped her arms around her too, embracing her warmly. She let her aunt hold her like that, in the middle of the parking lot, for a long while.

* * *

Moroha trailed behind Rin as they walked amongst the cars. Rin clicked the button on her keys and she noticed the lights of a black car up in the distance light up.

"I got a new car," Rin announced, turning her face to look at her as she walked. Rin's face was still a little red from crying. "It's really nice. It even has a buttwarmer."

Moroha chuckled at that. "A buttwarmer, huh?"

Once they had approached it her aunt reached out to pet the hood of the vehicle, as though it were a living thing. It was a sleek car, and she could immediately tell it was expensive. "Your uncle likes it a lot too," Rin continued, "It's really safe and it would be easy to fix if it broke down. I love it."

Moroha nodded at her enthusiasm as she crossed to the other side and went to open the door. Both women slid in and the shihanyou took in her surroundings as soon as she got in. The interior was dark, smooth, and sleek with silver accents on the dashboard, as well as leather seats. Moroha took one look at the buttons at the forefront of the car, and she didn't know what half of them did. This car was fancier than any ride she'd ever got in.

"It's really nice."

"Isn't it?!" Rin seemed very happy that Moroha agreed with her, "I got it customized and everything. I thought that it was a bit too much but now that I have it I absolutely love it."

The car lit up as Rin started it, and Moroha fastened her seatbelt as her aunt began to pull out of the lot. "Do you still ride A-Un, Oba-san?"

"Oh yes, he's back at the estate," she explained, looking both ways out the window to make sure there was no oncoming traffic. "I visit him outside every day, you know. Usually, when your uncle is out of town working he's the only company I have." As they pulled out on the main road, Rin turned to her and winked. "Things won't be so lonely now that you'll be staying with us, though. I don't like being by myself in such a big place. It's just nice to be able to hear someone else and know they're there."

Moroha made a noise of agreement, turning to look out the window at the city in the far distance. "I know that feeling." She let a moment of silence hang in the air before asking, "How is Oji-san doing, anyway? And Towa and Setsuna?"

Now Rin was beaming. She always loved to brag about her family whenever someone asked her. "Sesshomaru-sama is doing great, actually. He's in Osaka working this week. I spent last night in the hotel where he was staying at, actually. That's why I was able to get here so early. Or else I would have been driving for eight hours," Rin paused as they pulled to a stop at a traffic light. Rin looked at her directly, "We went out and ate, looked at the city. It's been forever since I've been out here, it was a lot of fun! And his work is going well."

Moroha looked away from the window and looked directly at her aunt. "Is it?"

"Yeah, they had already been building up the skyline in Osaka and Tokyo. I guess they're signing contracts to take over building skyscrapers in other cities too," Rin looked over at her niece, overflowing with pride. "Which _means_ the company is doing better than it ever has been."

"That's awesome! He's the CEO of T-Corp, right?"

"Right," Rin confirmed, putting her foot on the pedal as the light turned green. "As for Towa-chan and Setsuna-chan, they'll be coming home from New York in mid-April. We were actually planning on going out to New York City for their graduation and to see their grandmother," Rin paused for a moment as she paid attention to the on-ramp, "They've been staying with her while going to Columbia University. She lives on the Upper East Side so it's close by."

She couldn't help the pang of jealousy and shame that ran through her. _They've been traveling and going to an Ivy League school while I've been hanging out in jail._ A voice in the back of her mind reminded her that the shihanyou had done this all to herself, however.

"I'd invite you to come with us, but I don't know if you're even allowed to leave the country while on parole."

"No," Moroha confirmed, frowning slightly while looking at the road as Rin pulled onto the highway, "I have to ask for permission to even leave the prefecture."

Rin clicked her tongue at that. "That's rough, but I don't think you'll have much of a reason to go anywhere else for a long while yet. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. And don't worry," Rin turned her head to give her niece a little wink, "After those two weeks we'll all be home most of the time. I'm sure your cousins will be happy to see you."

Moroha couldn't help but notice that she left Sesshomaru out of that final sentence. She had only met the man once as a child and he hadn't come to see her while she was incarcerated, in spite of Rin coming almost every month so it wasn't like she could blame him for not caring about her stay. She had to ask, though...

"Is Oji-san alright with me staying there?"

Rin glanced over to look at her niece's face while pausing. Moroha stayed silent though. _She's probably trying to figure out how to word this_ , she thought to herself.

"He's... a little concerned," Rin admitted cautiously, "but when he gets home in a few days he will sit with you and lay down the ground rules. As long as you follow them and make yourself useful I doubt you and him will have any problems," her aunt reached over and squeezed Moroha's shoulder reassuringly, " _in spite_ of what your father may tell you."

The shihanyou's face darkened at the mention of him. She slouched in her seat slightly, crossed her arms, and looked back out the window.

"Speaking of, have you heard from him or your mother?"

"Nope," Moroha spat, "nothing but crickets." Just the mention of her parents pissed her off royally nowadays.

Rin sighed, "Well I mean, it's not like they could call-"

"They've been able to visit this entire time, Oba-san, and they never did!" Moroha retorted, cutting her aunt off. "I never removed them from my visitation list either."

Rin sighed audibly at that, and the conversation hit a small lull as she flicked her blinker and moved over into the fast lane. "Listen, I know you and your parents had a falling out-"

"Falling out? I'd say it was more than that!"

"-but I don't want you to worry about that over the next few days. Don't worry about your parents, your uncle, or anyone!" Rin glanced over at her again as she increased the speed of the vehicle to match the rest of the traffic on the highway, "I just want you to focus on getting settled in and getting in touch with the parole officer."

Moroha made a small noise of acknowledgment, looking back out her side of the window. In the side view mirror, Osaka was merely a dot on the horizon, only getting further and further away. The highway signs they drove past displayed 'WEST - KOBE' and 'SOUTHWEST - AWAJI ISLAND.'

Her aunt must have noticed the change in her demeanor. Rin had to have decided to keep quiet about the subject instead as she began fiddling with the radio, looking for a music station. "Is there anything you want to listen to?"

Moroha mumbled about not caring what she put on, and turned her body a little more towards the window. It had been a long time since she had come out this way, but she still recognized this portion of the highway. She had looked at it driving down here with her parents as a kid. At the thought of it, she crossed her arms more tightly and furrowed her eyebrows. Her mind couldn't help but slip back to her father and mother, now that they had been brought up.

* * *

_**Summer of 2002** _

_Moroha stared at all the trees as they zipped past, taking the sights in. Outside of the parks, Tokyo had barely any greenery. She honestly couldn't think of a time where she had seen so many trees in her entire life._

_She snuggled the doll she was cradling a little closer to her. Her dad had let her take it out of her suitcase to play with on the trip. Shippo had gotten it for her fifth birthday, and she absolutely loved it more than any other stuffed animal she owned. There had been a brief period after she got it where she had barely played with any of her other toys and knick-knacks. The doll had cute animal ears on top of its head, just like her father. That was_ really _the reason why she had liked it so much._

_She glanced up at the front of the car. Moroha chose to sit behind her mother so that she could have a good view of her father in the driver's seat. He only had one hand on the wheel, while his other arm hung out the window to rest on the car door as they drove. His white hair was tied into a lazy bun which was pulled through his ballcap - he always wore that ballcap to cover his ears - and he leaned back in his seat. Her mother had told him to slow down several times already, much to his chagrin, but she had snoozed off long ago._

_He had been quiet for most of the trip, which was a little unusual for him. Normally they would be chattering back and forth, trying to out-do the other with their inane, silly exchanges. But Moroha didn't mind, though. She was just happy to enjoy the quiet company of both her parents._

_She watched him in the rearview mirror, his golden eyes glancing around occasionally as he watched the road. He caught her gaze in the mirror and gave her a quick wink. Moroha giggled._

_"You pumped for the road trip, kiddo?"_

_"Yeah," she replied, drawing out the word to emphasize her enthusiasm. "I'm really excited to spend time with you and Oka-san!"_

_A small smile crossed his face when she said that. "Good," he looked back at the road ahead of them, "I'm really excited too."_

_Her face burned with happiness. He had been working a lot lately, and she only really got to see him after school on the few days he_ did _have off. Outside of that, she saw him as he came in from working and she was going to bed. When he suggested they all go together on a trip for a little bit of quality time, she had been overjoyed._

 _She loved her father. In fact, she absolutely_ adored _him. He was one of her favorite people in the entire world._

_"Are we there yet, Oyaji?"_

_"What did I tell you about asking that, Morocchi?" He didn't say it with any anger in his voice, though. He was just bantering with her as he normally would. "You asking that doesn't bring us any closer to where we're going."_

_"I know," she said, smiling to herself as they made small talk, "I've never been to Osata before!"_

_"No, it's Oh-sah-kah," her dad corrected, looking over at her briefly. "I haven't been there in a long time either. What do you want to do once we get there?"_

_"I want to eat octopus balls," she stated briefly. A stroke of joy ran through her when he chuckled himself, the "Keh!" sound that was so stereotypically_ him _. He mumbled something about how wrong that sounded under his breath, thinking she couldn't make it out._

_"Oh stop, Inuyasha. She's only five," her mother chided him, yawning afterward. She must have just woke up from her nap. "Do you mean takoyaki, Morocchi? I haven't had them before either."_

_"Yeah!" She giggled to herself again. "That's what I meant!" He wasn't paying attention to her in the rearview mirror anymore, since back to focusing on the road. But Moroha watched him intently, regardless._

_"So, what's the itinerary again?" Kagome asks, and the car seat moves as she shifts to look at her father. "First we stop in Osaka, then we go to Kochi-"_

_Moroha swears she sees something flicker over her dad's face at the mention of that part of the trip, and he swallows. Is he nervous?_

_"-and then I have to go do the appraisal, and then we swing back up to check out Kyoto. Right?"_

_"Exactly," her dad confirms, in a slightly more hushed tone this time. Inuyasha looks over at her, a little worried. "How long are you going to be there for, Kagome?"_

_"I'll only be an hour or two. The branch of the museum needs me to appraise some swords-"_

_"Don't worry, Oyaji!" Moroha cuts her mother off, making one large clap sound with her hands. "I'll be there with you while Oka-san is gone!"_

_"Moroha!" Kagome scolds, looking over the seat to give her_ the look. _"Interrupting people when they are talking is not very nice!"_

_The shihanyou sulks at that. "Sorry... I didn't mean to!"_

_But she sees a smirk cross Inuyasha's face, and she still can't quite pinpoint the emotion he is feeling right now. Something is definitely up. "Keh. Thanks, Morocchi," he says, and he looks at her in the rearview mirror where their eyes meet, "I'm glad I can always count on you."_

* * *

The drive takes Rin and her about four hours from Osaka without making pitstops along the way, and they don't reach where they're heading until the late afternoon. Moroha couldn't deny her aunt was great company, and the hours had passed fairly painlessly. But she breathes a sigh of relief as they start pulling onto the familiar backroad that leads to Sesshomaru's estate. They'd been sitting for far too long.

"See why I spent the night in the city last night?" Rin laments, shaking her head. "It's _such_ a long drive!"

Moroha nods in agreement, eager to get out of the car and stretch her legs out. However, when she looks out the window she can't help but appreciate the scenery. No one could deny that the beauty of rural Shikoku. The majestic scenery of the mountains and trees was so vastly different from the towering skyscrapers and asphault of Shibuya. There are no other neighbors on the route, from what Moroha can see. She couldn't decide if this was a good or bad thing.

"By the way," Rin starts, turning to look at her, "Have you gotten any information on your parole officer, yet? Do you know their name yet, anyway?"

"Yeah, actually. It's on the copy of the release form I got back," Moroha grumbled, leaning forward to reach for the paper in her pocket while also trying to avoid Rin's arm as she drove. She scanned it over quickly. "Their name is Hoshokin Jyubei, and I think they're near... Shisato Station?"

"Nice, it's right on the train line!" Rin exclaimed, leaning back in her seat now that they were on the familiar dirt road, "It's easy to get to whether or you're coming from the direction of our place or from Kochi, which is good. Shisato is the town closest to where we live, but when you look for work you're probably going to end up working in the city."

Once they near the end of the route, the estate grounds come into view.

"Finally!" Rin groans, pulling into the driveway to park the vehicle, "Long drives are exhausting..."

 _Rin really hates long drives,_ the shihanyou thinks to herself. _She's said that a few times now._ The car finally pulls to a stop, and Rin puts it in park before shutting it off. As Moroha steps out she stretches her entire body. She didn't realize how cramped her muscles had gotten during the trip. It felt good to walk around, she wasn't used to sitting around for such long periods of time anymore.

Rin walked towards the front entrance, her heels clicking on the asphalt. Moroha follows her towards the front door, and can't help admiring the size of the house. Not many, if any, places in Shibuya were so expansive. The yard was landscaped with bushes and trees, but due to the colder weather, nothing had begun to bloom yet. Rin had mentioned that the entire area surrounding their place, all the way up to the nearby lake, was owned by them. Moroha had asked if they were going to build anything else or do something with the land, but apparently, Sesshomaru preferred not to disturb it and keep it as it was.

_He really appreciates nature, for someone who makes a living building skyscrapers..._

Moroha walked up the front step to the porch, watching Rin stumble with her keychain as she tried to find the correct key to unlock the door. The walkway leading up the entrance had empty flowerbeds, and Moroha absent-mindedly wondered what they would be filled with once spring arrived.

"There we go!" Rin gasped as the door unlocked. She walked in and Moroha followed behind her into the genkan. Rin kicked off her heels and slipped into a pair of slippers that were waiting on the upper platform, and Moroha did the same.

"Happy to get those off, I hate wearing heels. I don't know why I brought them," Rin said, turning to look at her, "I'm going to change into something more comfortable and visit A-Un for a second, I haven't seen him since yesterday. Do you want me to show you where your room is?"

"Yeah, sure," but Moroha wasn't really paying attention as she looked around the foyer. _This house is nicer than what I remember,_ she thinks. The floors were made of dark hardwood, and the walls were white with wood trimmings that were the same color as the floor. The furniture was minimalistic and simple. A traditional Japanese home.

However, the tapestry on the wall is what catches her eye. It's a painting of a giant, white inugami flying through the sky, it's tails gliding behind it in the pale blue sky. The entity has a cheeky grin on its face as looks on below. Beneath was a village, and in the foreground were people chasing and worshipping the youkai. Revering it.

Suddenly Rin is beside her, and she admires it too. "Apparently," she starts, nudging Moroha with her elbow playfully, "you're related to that youkai."

"Really?" Moroha breaths, taking it in. "It's a really nice piece."

"I thought so too. It's really old, though. So look, but don't touch."

 _My mother would love this,_ Moroha thinks to herself, and suddenly she feels sad and a bit miffed again. _Stop thinking about them!_

But Rin walks off to show her to her room, and she shuffled behind her aunt.

"This place was really barebones when I moved in, and all the artifacts were in storage," Rin explains, even though Moroha never asked. "So when I came along I decided to decorate with them. I thought it was a shame for them to be locked away to never see the light of day. It doesn't look gaudy in here, right?"

"No, not at all," Moroha answers, taking in their home. 'Lavish' was the first word that came to her mind. Everything, whether it be a tapestry or an artifact, had been skillfully placed where it was meant to go. No object overcrowded another. Moroha made a mental note to ask her aunt or uncle to explain some of this stuff to her if or when they had the time. Even as they turned to walk down the hallway, she couldn't help but think of how nice everything looked. _Damn, even the halls are pretty._

Finally, Rin stopped inside of a sliding paper door. She opened it and stepped aside so Moroha could look at where she would be staying. It was a normal six mat tatami room with a closet.

"So you're futon is just in here," Rin states, walking over to the closet and opening it, displaying where the bedding was kept. "There's not much else in this room..."

Moroha looked around again. "There's _nothing_ in this room."

Rin gave a small laugh at that, but her niece could tell she was a little embarrassed. "Honestly, we never come into this wing of the house. There's another empty room right beside it. But I mean, at least you can fill it and decorate it however you want, right?"

"That's true," Moroha agreed, stepping a little further into the space. "If you don't like how I've done things in here or decorated, just tell me."

Rin smiles at that. "We don't care, just keep it tidy, clean and treat the floors. Tatami mats can get kind of gross if that's not done once in a while."

Moroha smiled back, "I can do that."

Rin walks toward the sliding door, "I'm going to change into something more comfortable and visit A-Un now," she turns around the face the shihanyou while leaning on the frame of the door, "There's a washroom down the hall if you want to bathe in the meantime. I can show you."

"Yeah," Moroha concurs, "that would be nice, actually. I haven't gotten to have one in about two days."

Rin starts heading down the hall with the shihanyou trailing behind her. "How often would they let you shower?"

"Twice a week."

Rin clicks her tongue at that and shakes her head, "I don't think I would be able to cope with that. If I don't do it at least every other day I feel so gross."

"Trust me, you learn to cope with it," Moroha admits, but feels the embarrassment rush to her face. _I hope I don't smell bad right now._ "They do it that way because they don't want everyone in one room for too long, they might get into fights."

"I guess, but that's still a bit extreme, don't you think?"

 _The whole system is extreme,_ Moroha thinks to herself but decides not to voice that out loud. When they finally reach the end of the hall Rin stops. There are two doors on both sides of the hall.

"So this side is where the toilet is," Rin explains, pointing to the door on her right, "and _this_ door," her arm switches sides, "is the bathing area. Did they give you any other clothes?"

"No," Moroha admits. "All they gave me was this outfit."

"Geez!" Rin exclaims, shaking her head, "They really left you out to the wolves, didn't they?"

Moroha smirks at that, thinking of all the guards at the prison who were mostly wolf youkai. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Rin walks past her, "I'll be right back, I'll get you some of my pajamas. You're smaller than me, but everything should fit." Moroha watches her as she struts down the hall. "I'll be right back."

Moroha lets herself into the bathing area. The tub is huge, there is plenty of room in it to wash and relax. At the far end of the room, there is a small end table and a Western-style shower, encased in glass. She decides a bath would be nice and heads over to the faucet to watch it fill up.

In no time at all, considering the size of the place, Rin is back. She brings along a folded long-sleeved black shirt and a pair of light blue, fleece pajama pants with a white Shiba Inu's plastered all over them.

"Let me know if these fit once you're done," Rin says, placing them on the mini-table near the shower. "I haven't worn them in forever, you can keep these if you want. Maybe we can go shopping tomorrow or today?" Rin suggests, and Moroha can't help but smirk at her aunt's excitement at the idea, "There are a lot of cute stores in Kochi."

"Yeah, that would be nice," Moroha replies. _She sounds more pumped about doing that than me..._

"Perfect," Rin gives her a little wink and goes to the exit, and almost closes the door before adding, "when you're done we can think about what we want to do for dinner tonight. We can order in or go out, your call." She shuts the door completely behind her and, for the first time in four years, Moroha is left to bathe by herself.

* * *

Moroha rubs the towel through her hair as fast as she can, trying to get her thick, black hair as dry as possible before venturing back out in the hallway. While doing so, she quickly scans the bathroom area out of habit.

 _It's clean, everything is where I found it._ Satisfied with the state of everything, she leaves with the towel and heads back to her room. Opening the paper sliding door, she hangs her towel on a small coat hook nailed into the wall, closes the door, and heads back down the hall again.

 _Wait... where do I go?_ She thinks to herself. _Dammit. Really? I'm already lost?_

She reaches one of the general areas and has no clue where to go from here. She's not sure if Rin is outside with A-Un, is somewhere in the house, or wherever. Moroha decides to look for the kitchen. _She'll look for me there eventually._

Moroha heads down another hall, adorned with relics of the past, hoping that she is heading towards the right area. At the end of the hall, there is another room, and she strides towards it. Peeking in, she frowns at her lack of success. _It's just an office._ She ponders on how she is going to learn her way around this place but before turning away something catches her eye.

It's a display case with swords.

She furrows her eyebrows as she slowly walks closer to the casing. There is a gold engraving fastened to the wooden base of the display, explaining the items and what they are. _Swords of the Three Worlds, Wielded by the Honorable Ruler._ She raises her eyes to look at the katanas inside.

The first sword is in a dark sheath, and the handle has a large, red gem as decoration at the end of the handle. ' _So'unga, The Sword of the Netherworld'_ the inscription reads, with a brief description of the youkai sword. Moroha can't help but notice it's the only weapon in the case with a _DO NOT TOUCH_ warning. Based on the lore that she read on the tablet, Moroha assumes it must still be possessed.

Underneath that, there is another sword on a mount. It's not as showy as the sword above it, in fact, compared to So'unga it's a little underwhelming. The plate beneath it reads " _Tenseiga, the Sword of Life_." But as she reads the description she was impressed by the power the katana held. _Can this sword really revive living things? Yeah, definitely the most useful sword here..._

But below Tenseiga, there is another anchor. But it sits empty. _Weird,_ Moroha thinks. _There should be a third one._ But when she reads the gold engraving she is so surprised to see the name of it that her jaw slightly drops, leaving her mouth open.

_Tessaiga, the Sword of Destruction. Built from the fang of the Inu no Taisho. It is said to have been able to slay one hundred youkai with a single strike. The protector of man._

She blinks slowly, not taking her eyes off the description. _Oyaji's sword. Oyaji has that sword._

Moroha can still envision the rusted blade in her mind, although her parents had never displayed it. It was locked away in a wooden box, probably shoved at the top of their closet. It was her father's most prized possession.

She steps back from the case containing the swords. She couldn't help but wonder if they were tucked away in this corner of the house because the third and final sword was gone. They were, now, an incomplete collection. The last time she had seen them they had all been together, on display in one of their common areas.

_The last time..._

* * *

_"Towa-chaaan," Moroha whines, grasping her stomach for dramatic effect. "I have to pee!"_

_Setsuna crinkles her nose at that - Moroha has learned over the last hour it's easy to get a reaction out of her, albeit subtle - while Towa gives her a good-natured smile._

_"Then go pee in the bush!"_

_"I-I'm not doing_ that _outside!" Moroha retorts, now scrunching her own nose like Setsuna's. "How do I get to the bathroom? Your house is way too big!"_

_Towa gives an overexaggerated sigh, jumps down from the branch of the tree where she was seated, and points at the back door of the estate. "You go through that door, take a left and then take a right at the end of the hall. It will be right there."_

_"Okay! I'll be right back!" Moroha announces. She puts her doll with the dog ears, the one she had carried in the car seat with her on the way here, onto the ground. "Keep an eye on my toy!"_

_"Okay," Towa assures her, watching the other little girl dart across the yard towards the estate. "We'll be here!"_

_Moroha rushes to the bathroom and, thankfully, managed to make it in time. Once she was done, she was absent-mindedly washing her hands when she thought she could hear the adults talking. Very loudly._

Are they shouting? _She thinks to herself, drying her hand on the fluffy towel hanging on the rack. Moroha thinks of when her parents had Sango, Miroku, and Shippo over. They got loud sometimes too, with their chatting and laughing._ They must be having a good time. Oyaji's visiting his brother, after all.

 _That must be it. Before today she didn't even realize her Oyaji_ had _a brother._

_She ventures back out into the hallway and begins walking back towards the door, eager to go outside and join her cousins. Moroha is still blown away by the place. It was probably the biggest residence she had ever stepped foot into, except for maybe Jii-chan's shrine. When they had pulled up she had asked her father if this was a castle, because to her young mind it had been. He just mumbled a reply under his breath, one that she couldn't catch in time. He had been really antsy and quiet today._

_"Don't worry about him, Morocchi," her mother had soothed her, cupping her cheek with her hand when she had inquired. "He's just... a little nervous today."_

Nervous? What did he have to be worried about?

_The small girl pondered that as she made her way back through to the exit area, leading out to the back end of the property. As she was about to sit down and put her shoes on, she couldn't help but look at all the fascinating objects on the wall. Her mother had practically swooned when she came in here, and her aunt Rin had been happy to tell her all about the historical objects lining the walls of their home. At least the ones her mother hadn't recognized immediately, anyway._

_In this particular area, there were three katanas on the wall. A black one with a red gem and an unusual sheath, a relatively normal-looking one, and one that was rusted with a chipped blade. She wanders over, shoes still in hand, to observe them._

That one must be really old _, she thinks to herself and wanders over to get a closer look at it._ Who would have made use out of such a rusted piece of junk?

_"I see that sword has caught your eye."_

_It startled her, she hadn't even heard him come in. Her uncle, Sesshomaru, was standing right beside her, his cool and collected gaze also fixed on the blade._

_Moroha couldn't help but stare as she took him in. Sesshomaru was beautiful. Ethereal, even. She had met and seen many full-blooded youkai before, but she had never felt a demonic aura quite as strong as his. Even she could pick up on it, and felt it strongly in spite of the small amount of youkai blood she had herself. His hair was the same color as her father's but it was even longer, worn freely, and it flowed down his back like a river. His haori and hakama were loose-fitting, and a fluffy mass was strung over his one shoulder._ Is that his tail? _Moroha thinks to herself,_ or is that just part of the outfit?

_His golden eyes dart over to look at her out of the corner of his vision. She realizes that she had been studying him quite intensely without answering him, and looks at the floor for a brief moment before returning her attention back to the katana hanging on the wall._

_"Yeah," she answers, putting her hands behind her back. "Your sword is chipped."_

_Sesshomaru is silent for a moment, before continuing. "This blade was forged from the fang of a great inuyoukai."_

_"That youkai must have not had very good teeth."_

_A breath of air comes out audibly through his nose, and Moroha realizes that she has amused him. He looks at her directly. For some reason, a jolt runs through her when their eyes meet._

_"You're a clever girl."_

_Moroha is about to answer him, but before she is able, she stops at the sound of loud footsteps coming in their direction. Sesshomaru also averts his gaze, looking towards the sounds of the stomping._

_Her father rounds the corner and briefly looks around the room before seeing her. He struts over, and he looks absolutely livid. "Moroha!"_

_"Oyaji?"_

_Inuyasha crosses the room in a few fast, long strides. "I've been looking for you," he states, finally approaching her and grabbing her by the wrist a little more roughly than he ought to have. He doesn't even look at Sesshomaru as he turns to walk out the way he came, dragging her with him. Moroha nearly trips over her own feet._

_"Oyaji? What's wrong?"_

_"We're fucking going home!" He snaps, without answering her question. Every curse word coming from his mouth sounds like venom. "Talk about a waste of my fuckin' time!"_

_"Language, Inuyasha. There are children here."_

_Inuyasha whips around at that, an angry growl emitting from deep within his chest._

_"Fuck you, you miserable prick!" Inuyasha yells, pointing an accusing finger in his brother's direction. "I don't give a shit about you, or the money, or anything else. But I want my inheritance! I want my fucking sword!"_

_Sesshomaru raises an eyebrow at that. "That will not be happening."_

_"You'll never be able to wield it!" Inuyasha yells, exasperated._

_"And neither will you, little brother." Sesshomaru calmly taunted, his tone dripping with nastiness._

_Her father is scowling now. Apparently done with engaging any further, he whips around and walks away, dragging Moroha along with him._

_"B-But Oyaji! I was playing-"_

_"Shut up!" He snaps at her, and Moroha winces. "We're going home! Let's go!"_

_Inuyasha still had a firm grip on her, and she tried her best to follow him as fast as her small legs would let her. What is even going on?_

_When they reach the foyer, she sees Kagome speaking to Rin near the front entrance. Her aunt looks like she's about to burst into tears. When she sees Inuyasha she turns to him as though she's going to say something, but he promptly cuts her off._

_"Don't fucking say anything," Inuyasha snarls, stepping into the genkan to put his shoes on. "See what happens when you try to force this kind of shit?!"_

_"I never meant for this to happen, Inuyasha!"_

_"Well, it happened," he retorts, grabbing his red coat from the hook and shrugging it onto his shoulders. "You ought to mind your own fucking business, Rin. It'd do you a lot of good. " He turns to look at Moroha, who is staring at him with a look of shock plastered on her face. "Put your shoes on. Now."_

_Moroha tries to put her shoes on quickly, but can't help but observe the argument that is happening in front of her. Rin shakes her head and turns to Kagome, exasperated. "I mean it, Kagome! This wasn't our intention. At all."_

_"I know, Rin-"_

_"I wouldn't talk if I were you either, Kagome!" Inuyasha exclaims, reading for the knob with his one hand. "You don't fucking know the half of it either!"_

_Moroha knows that look, her mother always had a hard time not showing her emotions on her face. And she can tell Kagome is absolutely done with this nonsense. "Maybe if you weren't flipping your lid you'd be able to hear them out and understand!"_

_"I don't need to hear any more," Inuyasha retorts, stepping outside. "Hurry up, Moroha. Get in the car."_

_She doesn't even tie her shoes as she trots outside to follow her father, eager to keep up with him and get out of this situation. Rin is crying now, and the voice of her mother trying to comfort her is the only thing she is able to discern. Moroha tries to catch up, but her father has already made it to the car._

_"Oyaji, I didn't get to say bye to Towa-chan and Setsuna-chan!"_

_"I don't care." His anger is rolling off of him in waves. His being angry with her makes her heart hurt, and her eyes tear up. "I told you to get in the car and be quiet!"_

_Now her mouth is sealed, her lips tightened into a straight line. She looks over toward the front of the house as she opens the back door of the car, it appears that her mother and aunt have moved out to the front porch. Inuyasha's arms are crossed tightly across his chest, and he takes a step forward away from her. He watches them as they talk._ Where is Sesshomaru? _The shihanyou looks around quickly to see if he might be there, maybe to diffuse the fight. When she senses no aura and is certain he's not outside, she hops into her seat of the vehicle and shuts the door._

_She does up her seatbelt, incredibly anxious. A couple of tears slide down her cheeks, and she wipes them away angrily. What the heck is going on?_

_"Hurry the fuck up, Kagome!" Inuyasha yells across the yard to the two women standing in front of the entranceway. "We're leaving!"_

_"Shut the hell up!" Kagome screams back. She was never one to back down from him, even when he was mad. The shihanyou is suddenly grateful there are no nearby neighbors to hear the squabbling. "I'm trying to talk to Rin!"_

_Moroha sharply sucks in her breath. She hates listening to the adult's fight, and hates the feeling it brings her. It makes her nervous and jittery._

_She peers around the seat to the dashboard of the car, where there is a clear view of everything occurring. She sees her mother embrace Rin for a few moments, letting her hands linger on the woman's shoulders as she pulls away. Her dad is pacing as he waits._

_"Oh for fuck sakes, Kagome. Come on!"_

_"I'm coming, Inuyasha! Give me a minute!"_

_Inuyasha curses under his breath and turns toward the car. Moroha tenses as he gets into the driver's seat and he slams the door harder than he needs to. He is still swearing under his breath as he starts the engine, and the old car sputters to life. Moroha is mindful of keeping silent, at least until her mom is back in the car._

_Finally, after a minute that feels like an eternity, her mother begins to walk towards them._

_"About fucking time!" Her father exclaims, reaching over to unlock her side manually. Kagome opens the door, seats herself, and before she can even put her seatbelt on her father is backing up out of the driveway quickly. "Could you have gone any slower?"_

_Her mother shakes her head, fiddling with her seatbelt until she hears the click. "Could you have been any louder? What is wrong with you?"_

_Inuyasha leans over the back of the seat to look out the rear window as they back up onto the dirt road. There are very, very faint violet marks on his cheeks. "Were you not paying attention? You know exactly what's wrong, Kagome. Don't play dumb."_

_"You completely freaked out on them, and Rin-chan is bawling her eyes out!"_

_"Good."_

_"Honestly, Inuyasha! You are unbelievable!"_

_A growl leaves Inuyasha's throat, and he doesn't respond to anything she says. Her mother crosses her arms, shaking her head._

_As they pull out onto the main road and start driving away, Moroha looks back towards the estate. A pang of deep sadness runs through her when she sees Towa running up the driveway, with Setsuna not far behind her._

_Moroha gets onto her knees to peer out the rear window. But her cousins finally reach the end of the driveway and Moroha gasps at the item in Towa's hand. Her cousin frantically waves it in the air as she tries to get their attention._

My doll...!

_But the car is already long gone, and Towa and Setsuna are merely dots on the horizon._

_Hot tears start filling her eyes as she watches the estate fade into the distance, and she begins to audibly sob. Moroha turns back around to face the front seats and covers her face._

_"Oyaji," she says, her voice shaking from crying. "I left my dolly."_

_"Too bad. You shouldn't have left it lying around."_

_"Inuyasha!"_

_"What?!" He screams, looking at Kagome angrily. "I don't fucking care, we've already left, and I'm not going back for it!"_

_Her mother sighs loudly, shaking her head and crossing her arms. Moroha cries even louder in the back seat. "I want to go back and get it!"_

_"No, Moroha."_

_"Please!" She screeched, crying even louder now._

_"No." He repeats, his tone low and fed up._

_She tries to wipe away her tears, but they just keep coming. "I didn't get to say goodbye to Towa and Setsuna!" Moroha cries, shaking her head. "I want to go back! You said we were going to spend the night and I was having fun!"_

_Inuyasha doesn't answer her, but he's still very upset. He grips the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles are turning white. Kagome remains silent beside him and has seemingly resigned to no longer carrying out this argument._

_Moroha doesn't like the silence. Her point is not getting across. "Their house is nicer than ours and I wanted to spend the night!" She repeats herself, and she hears her father let out a growl at that. But he still remains silent._

_The anger surges at his lack of attention, and her face goes red from more than just crying, Enraged, she kicks the back of his seat. "Are you listening?!"_

_Now her mother turns to scowl at her. "Don't do that!" But Moroha ignores her and kicks the seat again, even harder, in an attempt to get her father's attention._

_It works. The car suddenly jerks to a stop as the breaks are slammed. A clawed hand reaches out to put the car into park, he removed his seatbelt and leans over to glare at her from his seat. The look on his face frightens her._

_"Be fucking quiet, Moroha." His finger is in her face now, and all his patience for her has run dry. Her mother gasps and grabs his shoulder while shouting his name again. "I don't want to hear another word out of you. Do you understand me? If you kick my seat again you are going to fucking get it, you little-!"_

_Kagome shakes her head at that, still tugging on his shoulder in an attempt to pull him away. "Inuyasha, come on. I know you're angry, but don't take everything that happened with Sesshomaru out on her. I am serious!"_

_Moroha is wailing now. "You're mean!"_

_"You think this is mean? We haven't even scratched the surface of mean, yet." Her father scolds her, his finger still making a jabbing motion at her as he does so. "Be quiet, and be fucking grateful for what you have. You can get another doll, and I'm not going back to get the one_ you _left behind. I don't want to hear any more about it." Inuyasha gives her a final warning glance, a deep scowl set on his face, as he leans back and returns to his seat. "Not another fucking word, Moroha! I mean it. I've had enough of your whining," he puts the car back into drive, "and stop your crying!"_

_Stunned, and a bit rattled, she covers her face in her hands again and tries to, unsuccessfully, repress her sobs. Kagome just looks between her and her father, in complete disbelief._

_"The both of you really are something else...!"_

* * *

"Did you get lost? I wasn't expecting you to be done already!"

Moroha jumps a little and turns around, unexpectedly snapped out of her thoughts. Rin had changed into a lovely pink yukata with a floral pattern and had tied her hair up into a high ponytail. She had a questioning look on her face as she observed Moroha in the study.

"Sorry..." Moroha stutters, walking towards her. "I was trying to find the kitchen."

Rin makes a waving motion with her hand, as though trying to swish her worries away. "It's not a big deal, I didn't think you'd be done so soon is all. It's only been about twenty minutes."

Moroha was surprised at that, she didn't think so little time had passed. "I guess it's just a habit to wash up quickly."

Rin shakes her head, but she has a goofy grin on her face. "Well, I guess next time you'll have to soak and enjoy it!" Rin reaches her arm out, as though beckoning her to come forward. "We should probably get out of here, this is Sesshomaru's office. I don't think he would like us standing around chatting in here."

That snaps Moroha's body into motion. "Oh, yeah. Right."

Once she is back out into the hall, Rin shuts the door behind her and even gives it a little tug to make sure it's definitely closed. Once she is done with that, she hooks her arm into Moroha's and begins to walk down the hall. "So, have you thought about what you want to eat yet?"

The shihanyou nods, she had been looking forward to this for a little while now. "Do you think anywhere around here has pancakes, Oba-san?"

* * *

_A brand new ceiling._

Moroha stares up at the white plaster and wooden support beams that line the wall, in contrast to the white brick she used to stare up at every evening before drifting off into slumber. It's her first time sleeping under this roof. And her first time in forever where she was left alone with her thoughts. Usually, the sounds of the night included the rumbling snores of her cellmate sleeping beside her. But now, it was just the dead of night. Nothing to disturb her, or keep her company.

Her face twists at the thought of her old cellmate, and she thinks of the elderly woman's face. _Kaede..._

And just like that, her thoughts drift to the other prisoners that were in there. She hadn't thought about it all day, but now, with nothing else to think about, her thoughts were taking her back there. Was everyone okay? Did anything interesting happen in there after breakfast once she had left? What did they have for lunch? Was everything clean and tidy? Was someone unfortunate enough to walk on Karan's floor without realizing it? Did Shiori get her sweets from the commissary? How was the guard's wife doing? Did they get any new books in the library?

She tried to shake her head, as though that would take the intrusive thoughts out of her head. _You don't live in a fishbowl anymore_ , she told herself, closing her eyes. _You wanted to be on the outside, and now you're here!_

But she couldn't help it. Moroha envisioned the faces of her friends. _Kaede, Kagura, Kanna..._

_Kikyo._

A whimper left her throat as soon as that woman crossed her mind, and she felt her face get hot and her eyes get wet. _Damn._ She flips over onto her side and curls into herself, pulling the blanket over her head to hide her face.

 _What happened to you? I hope you're okay, Kikyo._ Now her cheeks were soaked, and all she could smell was the saltiness of her tears. _I miss you more than anyone!_

She buries her face in the pillow, in an attempt to hide her face and muffle her crying. Moroha knew that this night, just like _every_ first night, was going to be a rough one.

* * *

_**Fall of 2015** _

_Kaede's eyes slowly open to the world, her eyes fixed on the blank, white brick ceiling above her. She knew from the lack of light filling the cell, and the sounds of the crickets outside, that it was still the dead of night._

_The old woman didn't stir from her sleep often. Nowadays she slept quite well. But the quiet cries coming from the young woman beside her had stirred her from her sleep._

_Ah yes, the new girl. Kaede looked over at the lady laying on the futon next to her, her back turned towards her. The inu-shihanyou that had just been brought from the camp this morning. The guards had put her through her week-long initiation and, finally, she was here._

_"Show her the ropes, Kaede-obaa-san." Koga had commanded as he undid her handcuffs. "I don't want to hear anything about this one getting into trouble."_

_Kaede frowned deeply. As if she could help it! The old woman hadn't said much to her that night, and the girl did not seem as though she had wanted to carry on a conversation and would rather keep to herself._

_"What's her name, Koga-san?"_

_"Taisho Moroha."_

_An unusual name for an unusual girl, she mused to herself._

_But now the only sound that filled the cell were the faint sounds of her whimpering and sniffling. Kaede felt pity for her._

_"Ye might want to keep it down, child," Kaede warned, and the sounds went radio silent as she listened to her words. "The guards don't take kindly to noise."_

_Moroha didn't respond and went quiet for a few moments. But it was clear her memories and thoughts had been plaguing her tonight and, like clockwork, she was whimpering in her futon again._

_Kaede let a breath out through her nose. Not sure exactly what was compelling her, she reached over and put her hand on the shihanyou's shoulder. Moroha had immediately tensed, her shoulders scrunching up to meet her neck._

_"The first night will be hard for ye, child," Kaede assured her, giving her shoulder a light, comforting squeeze. "But it will get easier over time."_

_Kaede stared at the young woman's back. It didn't seem as though she was going to get a reply back. She sighed, rubbing her thumb on the nape of the woman's neck. But, just as she was about to pull her own hand away, a clawed one reached up to grasp hers. It returned the sentiment with a squeeze of its own._

_"Thank you..."_

_Kaede smiled at that, pulled her hand away, and laid back onto her back. It was time to go back to sleep. The daily grind here always began sooner than one would hope._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry, but not sorry, for the length of this. I felt it was important to set the mood for what's to come, and things will be explained further on in the story. I am intending for this to be a slow burn, and the plot outline for this story has already been written. It's just a matter of fleshing everything out. I have been sitting on this concept for a story since the release of the Yashahime anime. I've seen a lot of wonderful fanfictions about Inuyasha as a fantastic father, and while they warmed my heart (because let's face it, Inuyasha and Kagome deserved that ending), I wanted to explore a dynamic where Moroha and her parents did not get along.
> 
> The only Japanese I will be using in this story are going to be the names of places, things, people, and the names they call each other (such as honorifics and terms like 'baka,' 'Oyaji,' 'Oji-san,' etc). If these are not being used correctly please do not hesitate to bring that up.
> 
> The prison near Osaka where Moroha was incarcerated, as well as the town of Shisato and all the places and people within it, are works of fiction.
> 
> This story has received an M rating, as there will be future depictions of drug use, sexual themes, and violence. I will make sure a warning is placed at the beginning of the chapters where these scenes are present. I am also not familiar with Archive of Our Own, so please forgive any errors with tags whether there be too many or not enough!
> 
> I have never done this before. Flames are not appreciated, but constructive criticism and encouraging words are. If you don't like this story, just don't read it. Thank you.


	2. Ground Rules

As the early morning sunlight bleeds through the blinds, brightly illuminating the bathroom, Moroha contemplates the colours in front of her. _Brown, pink, and red. Sophisticated, dainty, or bold?_

Moroha studies the tubes, not sure which color to go forward with.

She is supposed to be leaving later this afternoon to have her first visit with the parole officer. As per her early release form, she has to meet with him within the first twenty-four hours of her release.

So she had gotten up early, earlier than she had to, and had put her makeup on for the first time in four years. Holding everything her hands and putting it on had felt so strange, forbidden almost. Cosmetics were considered contraband and were confiscated quickly if found, back in the facility.

But she has a ball with it, Moroha had always loved playing around with makeup. And now, it was time for the final part of her routine. The finishing touch, the cherry on top of the cake. The lipstick.

Moroha swears that if she could only have one makeup item to wear for the rest of her life, without a doubt in her mind, it would be lipstick.

Just one swipe of color could change a person's entire look, the way they were perceived. And she was anxious to make a good impression.

While she and Rin had waited for their take-out to be prepared last night, pancakes as per Moroha's request, they had stopped in to visit a tiny little cosmetics shop that was nearby. Rin insisted that she get some basics to wear for the next few weeks, at least. And after four years of not even having rouge to color her lips with, it was like being a kid with a sweet tooth in a candy store.

"Pick whatever you want," Rin had said, giving her a little wink. "Consider it us making up for all the birthday gifts we missed out on!"

Moroha wasn't going to turn down the offer. The makeup that she had left the prison with was old, anyway. But she had tried to keep her purchases modest, getting mainly skincare products and the bare minimum of the other makeup she had needed.

 _Less is more_ , she reminds herself. It was her mother's mantra when it came to her own makeup, and it had stuck to her like glue.

But when it came to lipstick? She was going to indulge, especially now. Screw the mantra. _More more more._

Moroha looks over the three colors, and finally, decides to go with red. _I'm boldly going into a new phase of my life,_ she thinks. _What other color would I wear?_

Red lipstick had always suited her best, it brought out the best of her natural features. Her pale skin, dark hair, and plump lips. It made her look more mature than she actually was. The difference, to her, felt like night and day. Moroha always thought that her face looked childish without it.

She picks up her brush and, skillfully, applies the first stroke to her bottom lip. The matte color goes over the nude lip liner beautifully, and the shade of red was perfect.

When she finishes, she puts everything down and looks at her reflection in the mirror. She expects to be overjoyed with the result, but she isn't. Moroha is surprised to see the likeness that looks back at her.

_I look like Oka-san._

It was an odd revelation. Moroha realizes for the first time, taking a hard look in the mirror now, that her face had changed while she was away. Her round cheeks had thinned out, her chin and jawline were much more prominent. Moroha always assumed it was the harsh lighting in the prison bathroom, or that her imagination was playing games with her.

But she was wrong. She no longer has the face of a teenager, but the look of a young woman.

_And that young woman looks just like her mother does right now._

A deep sadness suddenly falls over her. Her thoughts drift to the face she had longed to look at when she was feeling upset, the one she had wanted to see when she was at the lowest she had ever felt in her life. The one that she was too afraid and ashamed to reach out to.

Moroha studies her reflection for a few minutes, resting her chin in her hand, barely able to recognize the familiar yet far away stranger gazing back at her.

* * *

_**Summer of 2002** _

_Moroha sulks, leaning against the wall as she watches Kagome hold her lip brush and carefully apply a light pink color to her lips. Moroha observes her reflection in the mirror intently as she gets ready for the day, the two of them cramped together in the small hotel bathroom._

_As she watches her mother prepare, Kagome's words from her conversation with her father last night echo in the back of her mind._

_"Sesshomaru is going to give Tessaiga to Towa-chan and Setsuna-chan. And there is nothing you can do about it, Inuyasha."_

_Moroha had laid in bed under the covers last night, only a sliding door separating her from her parents. It had been late into the evening but she could not sleep. Moroha could not help but eavesdrop on her parents having their discussion in the main room of their hotel suite, with only the thin partition separating her from them._

_"I know," she hears her father reply in a quiet voice, "but it still fucking pisses me off."_

_Once they had left the estate, and after her parents briefly bickering over where they were going to go, they found a small ryokan in which to stay for the night. Inuyasha had complained because there was only one bed in their only available room, and they would all be forced to squeeze in together to rest. But for one night it would have to make do._

_Following the incident in the car, Moroha had avoided Inuyasha for the entire night. Even during their evening meal she had to, mindfully, focus on keeping her eyes down and not looking at him. Her father did not speak to her either. He had never been good at keeping his anger to himself, the emotions were plastered all over his face and Moroha could still feel them strongly emanating from him._

_The best thing to do, Moroha thought, was to just keep quiet and steer clear of him. Despite her instincts railing against the idea._

_Kagome had been angry with her too, but between the two of them, her mother wasn't being_ as _short with her. So, for the remainder of that day, Moroha had stuck quite closely to her side until she had suggested that her daughter go to bed._

_Once she had laid down to rest, her father had been willing to open up about his thoughts. Moroha was hyperfocused on what they were saying and doing. She heard the ice clinking around in their glasses, the hum of the TV program in the background, and her father's nails as they tapped onto the low table where they both sat. Moroha was eager to learn more about what had caused the outburst earlier in the day, despite her still feeling resentful about it._

_"You need to call Rin and apologize," Kagome pauses to take a sip from her beverage before continuing. "You know that she was only trying to be nice by inviting us over. She wants you both to get along. This, everything with Tessaiga, was Sesshomaru's choice and you shouldn't have acted that way. Even your face markings were showing!"_

_"Because it pisses me off," Inuyasha repeats again. "My father left it to me, and Sesshomaru hates the fact that Tessaiga rejected him and chose me. He figures that if one of his brats wields it-"_

_"Inuyasha!"_

_"-that in a weird way, he still has possession of it. He won't ever give it to me. I can't just sit around and be nicey-nice with him after everything else he has done, either!"_

What else did he do? _Moroha thinks to herself._

_Kagome pauses, mulling over what he has just told her. The ice cubes clink again._

_"I don't think Rin knows much about what had gone on between you two before..."_

Knows what? _Moroha wonders._ What happened?

 _"... but I don't think it's worth the effort anymore, Inuyasha." She says, finally. "Every time we come here, and every time we have to see your brother, you get angry like this. It's been almost seven years since the last time you saw them and you can't even sit at a table and have tea for an hour without flipping your lid. There is too much bad blood between you two." Her mother puts her glass, now empty, back on the table. "You_ have to _let Tessaiga go."_

_"I'll never let it go," he asserts, "it's mine."_

_Moroha had thought that her eavesdropping would give her answers, but it only left her with even more questions._

_At that point in the discussion, her mother decided to retire to bed and joined Moroha in the bedroom. Her father had followed them long after she and Kagome had fallen asleep._

_Her mother had stirred from slumber early, getting up to turn her alarm off and heading to the bathroom to get herself ready for the day. Normally, Moroha would have been happy to laze around in bed and snuggle with her father until late into the morning. But, with the current tension hanging in the air, Moroha was more inclined to cling to her mother's side. Within minutes of her mother's absence, Moroha was knocking on the door asking to join her in the bathroom while she got ready, much to Kagome's chagrin._

_And now Moroha leaned against the tiled wall, observing her mother preparing for the day's work, and pouting with a sour look on her face as she watched Kagome in the reflection._

_"Can't I go with you, Mama?"_

_"Morocchi," Kagome's tone is serious and flat, "that's the third time you've asked me since I've gotten up. You can't come. You have to stay here with your father."_

_"But I don't want to stay here!" Moroha whines, hoping to catch her mother's eyes in the reflection. "I want to go with you!"_

_"I'm not going there for fun, I'm going there for work. I'll only be a few hours."_

_Moroha starts to feel nervous again. She hates this feeling more than anything. "But Oyaji yelled at me."_

_Her mother lets out an audible breath through her nose as she puts the lid back on the cosmetic and sets it back into her travel bag. She begins to fish through it, looking for another product._

_"Moroha," she speaks slowly, and Moroha can tell from how she's being addressed that her mother is getting frustrated with her. "You kicked his seat. You should not have gotten angry either."_

_"But he yelled at me!" Moroha repeats, getting more irritated herself as her desperation grows._

_After a few moments of her mother's silence, fixing the small details of her makeup in the mirror, Moroha realizes she is now being ignored. Dismissed._

_"Are you listening to me, Mama?"_

_Moroha feels the heat rising to her face as the anger starts to simmer again, overcoming any apprehension she had been feeling. She hopes that her mother says something, anything, to curtail the displeasure that she feels. But Kagome continues with what she is doing, having moved on to pulling setting spray from her bag. Moroha looks down at her feet, desperate for any kind of reaction._

_"I hope Tessaiga breaks."_

That _catches Kagome's attention. When she looks back up her mother has stopped what she was doing, peering at Moroha over her shoulder. Moroha's eyes bore straight back into hers._

_"Did you hear us-"_

_"I hate that sword," she interrupts her mother, all her feelings finally coming to a hot boil. "It's rusted and ugly... and I just hate it! It makes Oyaji angry and it ruined our trip!"_

_"That's enough, Moroha. Nothing has been ruined," Kagome scolds. She shakes her head, exasperated. "You kicked his seat and overreacted too, so don't act like it came out of nowhere. Honestly, the both of you are like two peas in a pod!"_

_Her mother's words sting, and she knows she's getting on her mother's last nerve. But Moroha ignores the anxiety tugging at her and continues to vent._

_"I hope it breaks in half so Oyaji doesn't have to worry about it anymore," her emotions are bubbling over now, "and I hope that it makes that other man upset!"_

_"You_ were _listening to us last night, weren't you?" Kagome turns to face her daughter. She looks even more distressed now, realizing that Moroha is referring to Sesshomaru. "I was worried you might have been."_

_"I couldn't help it, I wanted to know why Oyaji was angry! I hate it when he yells!"_

_Kagome looks as though she was going to continue reprimanding her, but she stops herself, realizing that Moroha has begun to cry._

_"And... and now you both hate me," she sobs, "So I hate that... that man and that stupid sword! It's... It's a rusted piece of junk. It's awful!"_

_The stricken look on her mother's face makes her cry even harder, and Moroha covers her face with the back of her arm, looking towards the direction of the floor. Her vision is blurry with tears, and she can't make out the tile design on the floor no matter how much she tries to focus on it again._

_Her mother kneels down in front of her, and she cries even harder when she feels Kagome's hands on her shaking shoulders._

_"Moroha," her mother says, calmly, "look at me."_

_It takes Moroha a minute to gather herself, but the now soothing tone of her mother's voice makes her feel at ease. When the boil of her emotions finally falls down to a simmer she meets her mother's gaze. Kagome looks heartbroken._

_"There is nothing you could ever do to make Oyaji and I hate you," Kagome tells her firmly. She brings up her hands to cup her daughter's red face and wipes away stray tears with her thumbs. "Do you understand me?"_

_Moroha leans into her touch and gives her mother a little nod, not breaking eye contact. Her own little hand grasps her mother's wrist._

_"We love you so much. Even if we get angry with you, that doesn't change. I know your father got angry with you yesterday, but... he loves you more than anything. You know that, don't you?"_

_Moroha gives a small nod, but replies in a tiny voice, "It still made me sad though."_

_"I know," her mother replies, moving her hands from Moroha's face to her hands to clasp them in both of her own. "And I'm sorry. It makes me sad when he's upset too."_

_There is a brief pause. Kagome looks away from her momentarily, lost in thought for split second._

_"But you shouldn't hate your uncle, Morocchi. Or Tessaiga."_

_Moroha sniffles, watching her mother's thumbs stroking over her knuckles. "I don't even know why it's so special, anyway."_

_"It's... a long story, Morocchi. Maybe Oyaji will tell you the details when you are older..." Kagome pauses, not sure how to explain the situation to a five-year-old, "... but the sword is very special to him. it has been passed down in his family for a very long time. His father, your grandfather, had wanted Oyaji to keep it when he passed away. But Sesshomaru won't give it to him."_

_Moroha ponders on what her mother has told her. "That's... not very nice."_

_"I know. But when someone has passed, the things they leave behind can be very special reminders. You cling to whatever you still have. And that's the issue for both your father and your uncle. Neither of them wants to give that memory up."_

_Moroha looks down at the tiles, contemplating what she has just been told. For some reason, Moroha feels even worse now. Guilty. Even though none of this was her fault._ I still made it worse.

_Her mother taps her chin playfully, to get her attention. When she meets her mother's eyes again, she can't help but beam at the contagious smile on Kagome's face._

_"So I want you to do me a favor, Morocchi. Go and make up with him and have fun with him today. I think that would make him feel a lot better. I think it would make him really happy," her mother leans forward to peck her on the forehead. "And let it go, just this once. For him."_

Let it go, just this once. For him.

_Moroha nods in agreement, which makes her mother smile widely._

_"You are such a good child," Kagome praises, letting go of her daughter's hands and rising up from her haunches and onto her feet. "I'm almost done and then I have to go, okay?"_

_Moroha nods, but stands close to her mother still, not wanting to break the contact. She wraps her arms around her mother's thigh in an embrace._

_"C-can you go out there with me to talk to him, though?"_

_"Of course I can, Morocchi," her mother replies, reaching for the setting spray again. "His bark is worse than his bite, you know."_

* * *

_How much longer is this going to take?_

Moroha fingers the seams of her red jacket and slouches in her chair, watching the clock as it slowly ticks further past the time of her appointment. Her leg is bouncing, and it is only when Rin places a hand on her knee to make her stop that she even notices.

"Don't be worried, Moroha-chan." Rin says, giving her leg a quick squeeze before her hand retreats. "I'm sure it will go just fine."

Moroha doesn't respond but places her foot flatly on the floor to try and keep it from shaking again. She had felt so calm and collected about the meeting this morning, but as they drove closer and closer her demeanor had washed away to nervousness. When they finally approached the "Offender Rehabilitation Support Center" sign and pulled into the building parking lot, she was outright fidgeting. _What am I even worried about?_

Deep down, she knew exactly what was concerning her. Today was the day she would have to start interacting with the outside world again. For real, this time. Moroha would have to prove herself.

Prison life, and everything that was expected of her there, had been fiercely ingrained into her mind over the course of the past few years. Moroha found that it was seeping itself into her behaviors and thoughts yesterday, albeit subtle.

It had felt so odd to walk amongst everyone in public with her aunt last night, as though she wasn't permitted to even be there. She had bathed as though there was a time limit imposed on her. When she had eaten with Rin she had to remind herself that she would not be reprimanded or punished for talking during a meal. Even when she had picked up the metal utensils that had given to her, she couldn't help the invasive thoughts of needing to tell someone there was a forbidden item nearby. Anything metal was contraband, after all. Did people even realize how many sharp objects were around them every day? Or how many dangerous items were around them, period?

 _I hope I can do this,_ Moroha thought, slouching a little in her seat. _I can't screw everything up all over again._

The front foyer room where they're sitting is small, and only the sounds of the receptionist's typing and Rin's quiet, occasional humming filled the room. Other than the clock, the only thing to look at was a framed motivational poster, consisting of a stock photo of two people walking together through a field. Underneath was a quote in bold letters: 'Just do your best!'

 _Easier said than done,_ Moroha internally scoffs.

* * *

_**Fall of 2015** _

I don't want to talk about any of this.

_Moroha sits in the grey chair, her hands cuffed in front of her. She has a pensive look on her face as she processes the question Yawaragi just asked her._

_And, even as she contemplates it deeply for a few moments, Moroha has no idea how to answer it. She doesn't want to confront it._

_So she dodges it. Again._

_"Yawaragi-san, do we really have to do this?" She rolls her eyes, overexaggerating the gesture on purpose. "This is lame."_

_"Yes, Moroha." Yawaragi replies matter-of-factly. "You have to do counseling sessions with me, and you have to participate. It's a requirement of your sentence. You can't keep avoiding questions."_

_"Can't you just sign off on the hour? Huh? We can just_ say _we talked without having to_ actually _talk."_

_Yawaragi shakes her head. "No, Moroha. You did this the last time we spoke. I didn't sign off on that hour either."_

_"What?! Really?" Moroha shakes her head, growling disapprovingly. "You're missing out on a great opportunity, here."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_The corners of Moroha's mouth turn up shrewdly, a scheme coming to mind._

_"Think about it: I'd get to take a nap in peace, and you'd get to play online pachinko slots, uninterrupted, for a whole hour. I won't say anything, I swear. Unless you win a jackpot, though," she smiles slyly at the idea, "Then you have to give me a cut."_

_Yawaragi looks back at her, unamused._

_"... I'm going to consider that_ off the record _," Yawaragi replies, her disappointment strongly apparent in her low tone. "Suggesting something like that could get you in a lot of trouble."_

_"Oh, I was just kidding. Besides, you definitely considered it."_

_Yawaragi's lips tighten into a thin line. "Moroha, you have to talk to me."_

_"I don't think that's how therapy works. You can't force people to talk." The shihanyo is getting cockier now. "What exactly do I have to talk about, anyway? Every day is the exact same in here. Get up, eat, go to work, eat again, and go back to bed. Sometimes I get to go to the library. Or the TV room. Riveting, really."_

_"Everyone has problems," Yawaragi responds cooly, "out there, and in here._ Especially _in here."_

_"I know. That's why you have a job, isn't it?"_

_Another wisecrack. A callous, cunning side of her feels a strange pleasure at the idea of how annoyed Yawaragi must be with her right now._

_"Not me, though." Moroha shifts in her seat, wishing she wasn't in handcuffs so she'd be able to cross her arms and lean. "My problems out there don't matter, anyway."_

_Yawaragi raises an eyebrow at that statement. "Why would they not matter?"_

_"Because they're out there, and I'm in here. I can forget about them for now. There's always later."_

_They absorb that quietly for a few more moments. Each second feels like it ticks by more slowly than the last._

_It's easier to push them away and forget about them. Keep them in the past where they belong._

_"... Moroha."_

_Her brown eyes meet Yawaragi's golden ones, surprised by the sudden change in tone. The wolf youkai's eyes have a seriousness they didn't hold before._

_"Time is not on your side in this place." The wolf youkai says firmly. "Every single person in here lives with regrets. They live with their choices every day."_

_Her tone makes Moroha feel uncomfortable. On little more on edge._

_"Being in here might make you feel like your problems out there will never touch you again. But they will. And they will weigh on your mind more heavily than they ever could have on the outside."_

_That feeling, the apprehensive one that makes the inside of her mouth tingle, is coming back to Moroha again. She averts her eyes to study the tip of her shoe._

_"In my experience, people cannot solve the problems they run away from. People cannot solve the problems they expect other people to resolve for them. They can only solve the problems they want to work out themselves."_

_A lump begins to form in her throat._

_"We have to take responsibility for our own lives, Moroha. Every decision we make is a choice to not do something else. To do something better. Playing victim to yourself and avoiding the truth... Is no good."_

_The nervousness starts to move to the tip of her tongue, concentrating there. Moroha bites the inside of her lip in an attempt to quell it._

_"So I am going to ask you one more time."_

_Yawaragi repeats her question slowly, leaning forward as though she might miss Moroha's response._

_"What do you want to do with your time here? What do you hope to achieve?"_

_There is a long pause. Yawaragi's lip tense into a line as the moments pass by, wondering if Moroha was going to dodge the question again by throwing out a quick jab, or telling a joke, to distract from the discussion again._

_But, she doesn't. Moroha, finally, gives her honest answer._

_"I don't know."_

_The words hang in the air, heavily._

_"I don't know what I want to do, or what I want to get out of this," she admits honestly. "I'm sure that's disappointing for you to hear, but... It's the truth. I really don't know."_

_Everything is still, the mood solemn. Moroha braces herself for Yawaragi's response, avoiding her eyes and swallowing her apprehensiveness._

_"And this bothers you." Yawaragi is not asking a question. She's simply stating a fact._

_"... Yeah."_

_"You mentioned that I would be disappointed with your answer. Why do you think that?"_

_Moroha remains silent for a few more long moments, but Yawaragi waits._

_"... Because everyone else has been," Moroha murmurs._

Oyaji...

_Another memory, easier to leave behind in the past than deal with in the present._

_Moroha thinks back to the last time she and her father had spoken. It hurts her heart to think about it. It pains her._

_"I don't know who I am or what I want... At all."_

_Moroha doesn't know why she says that out loud. It feeling that had been buried deep within her but always there, and now out in the open to roam free._

_But now that it has been let out, it settles over her like a cloak. She wears the shame as though it were a second skin._

_Things always feel so much more tangible once they've been spoken._

_"... Then that's what we'll start with."_

_Moroha's eyes shoot back up, stunned. Yawaragi is satisfied with her answer._

_"That's what we'll work towards figuring out."_

* * *

A loud vibrating sound comes from Rin's purse, causing both women to jump a little in their chairs. Rin pops the clasp of her bag open and digs through the clutter in it, searching for her cell phone in the mess.

"Is that Towa? Or Setsuna?" Moroha asks, now trying to distract herself from her thoughts.

"Let's see..." Rin murmurs, running her finger quickly across the screen. When she reads the on-screen notifications she looks quite happy. "It's your uncle, actually. He's coming home today instead of next week! Oooh, this is great!" Rin swipes of the lock screen, and her nails click on the hard glass as she types back to him, "He'll be home later."

Moroha opens her mouth to inquire more, but the secretary behind the desk stands up and motions towards her.

"Hoshokin-san's ready for you now," the lady walks around from behind the desk, "Follow me."

Moroha takes a deep breath and gets up from her seat to tag along behind the woman.

"I'll be here waiting for you when you're done!" Rin calls after her, but she doesn't look up from her phone.

Moroha quietly follows along through the hallway. The white painted brick walls are scattered with bulletin boards as well as motivational posters. 'When one door closes, another one opens,' 'Don't tell others your plans, show them your results,' 'You're so much stronger than your excuses.' _Ugh, barf_.

Further downwards there is a mural with penguin mascots holding yellow feathers, smiling happily at all the passersby. The happy pair of faces felt so out of place to her right now, considering where she was on her way to and how she was feeling. But the woman stops at a door that is directly across from both mascots on the wall.

"This is his office, just have a seat. He'll be a minute or so."

Moroha gives the woman a small bow in acknowledgment as she walks into the cramped little office. It felt more like a closet. The main overhead light is shut off, and only a desk lamp illuminates the room. Moroha's eyes take a second to adjust to the contrast of this dim room and the bright lights of the hallway. The name holder inscribed with 'Hoshoshin Jyubei' on the desk is barely visible due to all the papers and folders scattered about. The tops of the filing cabinets are also cluttered with little trinkets and small, fake plants. A macrame plant hanger hangs near the window, and its small, matching plastic watering can sits nearby on the windowsill.

 _Thankfully no more inspirational quotes,_ Moroha joked to herself as she sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk. The only other decoration in the office was a knock-off painting of _The Great Wave off Kanagawa,_ which was fixed to the wall. The more Moroha stared at the canvas, the more convinced she was that it was crooked. _Definitely crooked._

The noise of a door handle turning startles her out of her thoughts, and she jumps out of her seat as a tall middle-aged man walks through the door.

"Ah, good morning. Taisho Moroha. Right?"

"Yes," she replies promptly. "Good morning."

"Take a seat."

The anxiety she had been feeling had felt like it had crawled up from her chest and was now resting within her mouth. She watched the man as he also sat down studying the folder that's in his hands. His casual attire surprised her. Hoshokin was wearing normal clothes, a shirt and a pair of jeans. His hair, or at least the hair he had left, was sticking out in wild tufts on his head.

"I have to apologize for being late," he says off-handedly, setting down the document that was in his hands to begin clearing the desk of its mess. "There was a meeting this morning that ran longer than I was hoping it would."

"Oh, that's fine," Moroha replies lamely, eyeing the folder he had just put down. _Must be my information._ "Hoshokin-san-"

"Jyubei." He corrects, shoving the papers into any available space in the drawers. "We'll stick to a first name basis."

"Oh, okay, Jyubei-san," she pauses awkwardly at the use of his first name so soon but continues as he sits down and grabs her folder, opening it now that the desk was cleared off. "I am sorry I could not make it yesterday. We had to drive from Osaka and-"

"Don't worry about it," he interrupts, his gaze not moving from the sheets of paper. "You made it within twenty-four hours. That's all we're worried about."

She accepts that answer and sits there awkwardly, watching him read the information inside the folder for a few long moments. Moroha can't help but wonder what, exactly, is being said about her within it.

"Taisho Moroha, incarcerated at the age of nineteen for theft and drug possession. Sentenced to seven years, entered the system as a juvenile delinquent." He reads out loud, never taking his eyes off the sheet.

"Yeah."

"You served just under four years of your sentence and were well-liked by staff and most inmates. You were released due to good behavior," he reads off the sheet, "despite having gotten into a fight with another inmate early in your sentence," his eyes finally meet hers. "That altercation was determined to be your fault."

Moroha hates thinking back to that day.

"Yeah. That sounds about right."

"There was another incident towards the end of your sentence," he continues, "where you were mixed up in another confrontation. But after investigation, it was determined _not_ to be your fault."

Moroha _really_ hates thinking back to that day.

"... Yeah."

A couple more moments of empty silence pass before he sets the folder down, only taking out one sheet from it.

"That's why we were discussing you at our staff meeting this morning."

Her anxiety drops down to the pit of her stomach, like a bomb. "Y-you were all talking about me?"

"Of course," he said, as though that was obvious information. "We always discuss the new parolees coming through. Inmates who have gotten into fights so close to the beginning of their parole don't usually get out this soon."

Moroha doesn't know what to say to that, so she keeps silent.

"This recommendation from your counselor," he shakes the paper in his hand for emphasis, "is the only reason you're out right now. If it hadn't been for her, you would have woken up in your cell this morning."

Moroha knew that Yawaragi was going to put in a good word for her, but she never imagined it would hold that much weight.

_Yawaragi..._

"I've known Yawaragi for a long time. Hardass, but a real nice lady," Jyubei tucks the sheet back into the folder. "She doesn't do this kind of thing for inmates often. So I'm going to tell you now: follow the rules exactly as they are told to you. Yawaragi'd be real disappointed if you were to show back up there again. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that lecture," he leans forward a little, "so try to behave yourself in the meantime."

"There won't be any problems," Moroha replies.

_If it weren't for her I wouldn't have even made it out in one piece._

"Good," Jyubei rests his elbows on the desk. "Because you still have a debt to pay, Moroha. Your debt to society. For the next few years, there'll be some rules you have to follow. You're going to be on a tight leash... But after where you were living, though, I'm sure the rules will be no issue for you."

He takes out a different sheet of paper and hands it to her. Moroha scans it as he continues to talk. It lists the conditions of her release.

"Keep that with your early release form, if you ever need to refer to it. Because you were arrested with a drug charge, there will be additional rules." He holds up his hand, raising a finger each time he lists a condition off.

"You are not to be drinking any alcohol, and every time you visit me, you'll be required to do a drug test. Drink lots of water before your appointments," her eyes remain firmly on the paper but she grins at his joke, "and be ready for random drug tests. You'll be subject to those too."

"I can only imagine my uncle's face when some stranger comes knocking on the door at random hours of the night asking his niece to do _that_ in a cup," she jests, folding the paper she was reading neatly into threes.

Jyubei grins, "You joke, but your guardian, the lady you were sitting with, has already agreed to it."

"Oh." _Dammit, Rin. Seriously?_

"It doesn't happen often, it will be at our discretion," he explains. "Outside of that, you will have to follow the same rules as every other parolee. Maintain employment, inform us if there is any change to your job or address, do not participate in criminal activity or break the law, and inform us if you are going to be leaving the prefecture." He pauses, taking a second to open her folder and look at it again. "Your parents live in Tokyo, don't they?"

"Yeah," she mutters grumpily. _I won't be going out there._

"Never been. I'm not a fan of cities anyway," he closes the document and turns back to her, "but another one of your conditions is to avoid Roppongi. No matter what. The only reason you should ever be there is if you're passing through on the train," he pauses, giving her a moment to process that. "Do your parents live near there?"

"No, they live in Setagaya." Moroha pictures the city and wonders how much has changed. "In Shimokitazawa."

"Don't know it," Jyubei gruffly replies, "I only ask because the board wants to minimize the chance of you committing a crime, running into anyone you were once associated with, et cetera."

"That won't be an issue."

He raises an eyebrow at her mumbling and her sullen mood as she looks down towards the floor. But he adds, "If you _do_ end up leaving town to visit, just let me know. It takes a few days to be approved or rejected."

Jyubei leans forward and rests his elbows on the desk, and Moroha looks back up.

"For now, we'll meet once a week. After a little while, we'll meet monthly. Once you're working, we'll iron out details like date and time."

They both glance up at the clock. It's been about twenty minutes since they first sat down.

"Our time is up. But everything in this center is free for you to use. Whether it be the computers, the resources, or the people. Take advantage of it."

Moroha gives him a small smile. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

"I'm sure you'll do fine. Just keep your head down, and follow the rules. Anyone who has followed that advice has never had issues."

Jyubei opens one of the drawers of his desk, reaching into it.

"Now, if you'll do us the honors..."

He holds up a plastic cup. It's one of the drug tests.

"... you can be on your way."

* * *

Rin hums along to the radio as they drive down the dirt road leading back to the estate. It is lightly snowing outside, and the landscape is covered in a thin sheet of white. Moroha can't help but snuggle more closely into her jacket as she stares out the window, taking in the cold beauty of the countryside.

When Rin gasps, loud and excited, it jars Moroha out of her thoughts and makes her jump.

"What is-"

"Sesshomaru-sama is back!" Rin exclaims, her eyes shining with excitement. "I didn't think he would be back so soon! He's home already?" She glances down at the digital clock. "It isn't even three o'clock yet!"

The estate is straight ahead, and there is an unfamiliar car parked outside.

Moroha tenses up. She's not sure how this encounter is going to go. _It's been years since I've seen him._

Rin pulls into the driveway quickly, a little _too_ quickly for Moroha's comfort, and puts the vehicle into park. Once the keys have been pulled out of the ignition Rin doesn't waste any time, happily bouncing towards the main house.

"Sesshomaru-sama!"

Moroha tries to keep pace behind her, kicking the snow off of her shoes before stepping into the genkan. Her aunt is already crossing the foyer towards the back area, carrying the boots she just took off.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" Rin calls out again to no response. "He might be outside. I'll be right back, I'm going to check."

"Are you going into the woods?" She asks, not taking her jacket off yet just in case. "Should I come with you?"

"Oh don't worry, Moroha-chan!" Rin says over her shoulder as she walks further into the house, "I'll be fine, if I'm gone for a little while don't be worried. I always find him."

Her aunt disappears around the corner once Moroha steps out into the house proper. A few seconds later, she distantly hears a door open and close as Rin heads outside towards the forest.

 _Will she be alright out there?_ Moroha ponders to herself, remembering that their property stretched to quite a ways away from here.

Moroha thinks about going after her, but she holds herself back. _They probably wouldn't want me to._ She walks towards the wing where her room is, bringing the jacket further up onto her shoulders to cover her neck.

_And I don't know how this conversation is going to go, anyways._

Would she be ignored? Lectured? Berated? She had no idea. Over the years, Rin had conducted most of the communication between her uncle and her family. Now that she thought about it, Moroha didn't know her uncle at all. The last time Moroha had seen him or spoken to him, now that she considered it, was almost twenty years ago when they had both stood together in front of Tessaiga.

 _Oyaji thinks he's a real bastard, though._ She reaches the sliding door of her room, quickly entering and shutting it completely behind her. _That might be what's intimidating me. Maybe I'm letting his opinion influence me too much._

The room is still woefully empty. The only thing in it is her neatly made futon on the floor.

_They barely ever talked, and Oyaji blows things out of proportion all the time. It was a long while ago. Maybe I shouldn't be so worried._

With nothing but the emptiness of the room to accompany her thoughts, she lays back against the covers, contemplative. Her mind jumps to her and Rin in the car on the day she got out when she mentioned her uncle had concerns.

_Anyone would have concerns about having an ex-con suddenly living in their house. I guess I'll just have to wait and see._

She stares up at the ceiling. It's quiet, almost uncomfortably so.

 _I have no idea what I'm going to do for the rest of the day._ Moroha sighs, putting her hands behind her head and crossing her legs as she focuses on nothing. She's not used to being in a mindless, idle state anymore. _Usually, I'd be working. Usually, the guards would tell me what I should be doing_. She always kept busy.

 _What do I have to do now? I have to find work. And soon..._ Moroha broods, staring aimlessly at the wood frame beams above her. _I should have stayed at the center and worked on the computers. Dammit!_

As she laid there, mentally kicking herself, she had every intention of planning out what she was going to do. Planning out what her next steps were going to be. But as her eyes get heavy, she shortly finds herself lulling off into a snooze.

 _I haven't had a nap during the day in forever._ Moroha yawns, a little loudly. _I'll just relax for a few minutes._

She closes her eyes and allows herself to drift off. Just momentarily.

* * *

When she wakes up, she is startled to see that the room is pitch black. Moroha shoots straight up out of the bedding, disoriented.

 _Shit. Shit!_ She curses to herself, jumping to her feet. _How long did I fall asleep for?!_

She almost trips over the bedding as she makes her way to where the sliding door is, and off-handedly realizes that she's still wearing the Robe of the Fire Rat. Its cozy warmth encompasses her.

 _Great first impression, you idiot!_ She utters a few profanities at herself under her breath. _Sleeping when I ought to be doing just about anything else!_

A small part of her hopes her aunt and uncle hadn't come back by then so that they wouldn't know that she had wasted her afternoon lazing around. She walks out into the dimly lit hallway and makes her way towards the kitchen.

The overhead light is already on when she reaches the area and walks in. _How long did I even sleep for?_ She peers at the time flashing on the microwave's digital clock and shakes her head. _7:47 PM! I can't believe I slept that long. Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

Moroha feels half relieved and half worried that she hasn't run into anyone yet. _If the light is on one of them will be back here soon._ From the kitchen, she can see a common area's backdoor that leads to the wild, forested property rear of the estate. She peeks at the genkan in front of the glass sliding door and is relieved to see that Rin's shoes are sitting at the doorframe.

 _Good,_ she feels more reassured now. _Rin made it back. Did he, though?_

Moroha walks out of the kitchen to the common area where Rin's boots are sitting. It suddenly dawns on her that she's in the same room that her father had dragged out of the last time she was here. The room is the exact same as it was, except for the missing three swords. Taking their place was a scroll written in a language Moroha could not understand.

She peers over to see if there's another pair of shoes at the ledge, but there is no other footwear. _Did she even find him out there?_

It's snowing harder than it was earlier. Moroha walks over to take a look outside through the glass door, where there is a clear view into the dark woods and beyond. Large and fluffy snowflakes drift from above and into the wind. The snow lands to gently to rest on the tree branches, and the footprints on the ground leading back up to the porch are nearly covered from new downfall.

Moroha scans the land, soundlessly taking in the scenery again. The moon covers the landscape in an ethereal glow, exemplified by the white blanketing the ground. The night sky was one she'd never seen before, one filled to the brim with stars and unpolluted by light.

 _This is so pretty,_ she gushes to herself looking up at the summits of the mountains, where the sky shined a brighter color against the backdrop. _I could never get a view like this in Tokyo._

When she steps back her eyes have to adjust from the bright moonlight against the snow to the dark contrast of the room she's standing in. But when she turns around she nearly lets out a yelp and physically jumps backwards, taken completely off guard.

Her uncle is standing right behind her. Completely quiet.

Moroha grabs her chest, breathing hard as her heart pounds.

"Holy shi-" Moroha catches her curse, barely in the nick of time. "Oh my Gods, you scared me!"

Sesshomaru doesn't say anything. He just watches, emotionless. Observing her.

"I didn't even hear you come in here!" She starts to breathe more slowly now, and her hand falls from grasping the front of her shirt to her side. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

He still says nothing, his facial expression unchanged. But the look in his eyes becomes a little harder.

"S-Sorry," she says, shaking her head. "Seriously, I don't mean to be rude! I just didn't know you were there!" Another panicked breath wooshes out of her, "I wasn't expecting it!"

_Who, in their right mind, does that? I didn't even sense a demonic aura._

There are a few long moments of awkward, still silence. But his intense stare doesn't waver.

Moroha only maintains eye contact for a few more seconds before having to look away. There is an instinct, distant and low in the back of her mind, telling her that she's being stared down. Telling her to remain alert.

She hates the look in his eyes, his unrelenting gaze. It reminds her of someone she'd rather forget. Someone that she's afraid of.

 _He's pissed at me,_ she concludes, trying to think of what she should say next. She detests second-guessing herself. _Did I really overreact that much?_

She swallows the lump that has formed in her throat. _That's not it. Why is he not talking?_

Moroha takes in a sharp breath, before looking at him and speaking up again. _I have to say something. Should I thank him for letting me stay? Right now?_

"Oji-san," she starts, trying her best not to look away. Moroha could have sworn his eyebrow just barely twitched when she called him that. "I'm sorry, I got distracted."

She hesitates, still maintaining his intense eye contact even though it scares her.

"I've already said this to Rin, but..." _Y_ _ou have to thank him. Just say it._ "T-thank you for letting me stay-"

"Be quiet."

The words are like venom, dark and biting. His volume isn't loud but Moroha still tenses up, her shoulders scrunch towards her neck and the rest of her body goes stiff. She swallows her words immediately, not daring to say anything. That distant instinct in the back of her mind is screaming at her to be silent.

The words hover in the air, taking forever to settle. Moroha shifts a little where she stands, not knowing what to do. His calm and cool demeanor puts her right on edge.

"I'm only allowing you to be here because Rin insists on it."

That fact is not lost on her, it never was. Moroha focuses on keeping her face relaxed.

"You've caused your father a lot of pain and suffering over the years, after what you've done."

"H-How do you know that?" Moroha asks, meekly. The sudden change in topic and mention of her father sends a jolt up her spine, and her hands grip the fur on the inside of her jacket sleeve. "Have you heard from him?"

_Does he even know I'm here?_

Sesshomaru remains silent, leaving her question unanswered. The longer the silence lingers, the more frustrated she becomes. Moroha hates the fact that she has no clue what he's thinking.

 _Is he going to tell me?_ She almost pleads. _Please, tell me!_

But she knows he won't, and any remaining curiosity she has is washed away by the overwhelming anxiety she feels.

"Your father is soft. He allowed you to become a failure."

That makes her visibly wince. Moroha feels a stinging, burning sensation behind her vision.

"You've gotten away with disappointing him..."

He takes a step toward her and she instinctively takes one back. But her backside immediately hits the glass door, leaving her nowhere to go as he approaches her. Sesshomaru doesn't crowd her, but their height difference between them makes it feel as though he is towering over her.

"... but you won't get away with disappointing me."

Moroha blinks away the moistness in her eyes, willing it away as hard as she can.

"I will not tolerate your selfishness." He addresses her cooly. "It is in your nature. You've lost four years of your life to it. Only time will tell if you lose more."

Moroha swallows nervously, paying careful attention to what he has to say. She knows he will only say it once.

"You are to behave, and you are to make yourself useful. You are not to make a nuisance of yourself. If you do anything that inclines this Sesshomaru to become suspicious or think otherwise, you will be going back to where you came from," he leans forward, paying special attention to make sure she hears this part. "I'll make sure of it."

It's a simple, yet effective warning. Loud and clear.

"Y-you won't have anything to worry about," she assures him, cursing her voice for shaking now that she has finally found it again. "I'm not the same person I was."

Sesshomaru doesn't respond, so she desperately continues.

"I've changed. I swear!"

Moroha is focused on his face and notices the subtle change in his expression. One similar to the amused look he given her when she had joked with him as a small child.

 _He thinks I'm full of it,_ she realizes. _He thinks I'm the joke here._

Moroha's desperate to reaffirm herself, to say something, _anything_ to sway his opinion, but tightly closes her lips so no words can slip out. It's no good. Nothing she could say to him right now would change his impression of her.

Instantly, she has a deeper understanding of why her father might feel the way he does about his brother.

The sweet voice that, suddenly, cuts through the tension in the air makes Moroha release the breath she didn't even know she was holding in.

"Sesshomaru-sama?"

Rin quietly walks up behind them to where they both are standing, a concerned look on her face as she observes them. "Is everything alright?"

Sesshomaru doesn't take his eyes off Moroha's. "Yes," he replies, quiet but firm. "We were having a pleasant discussion."

Moroha raises an eyebrow at that. _Pleasant? That was pleasant?_ Her instincts are still screaming.

Rin looks at her for confirmation. "Moroha-chan?"

"Yeah..." she mutters, trying to not distress her aunt. She has a distinct feeling that her uncle would not like her saying otherwise. "A nice talk."

Rin looks at her, skeptical, but she doesn't press any further. Instead, she walks up to Sesshomaru's side and links her arm with his tightly. He looks at Rin to acknowledge this action, a fleeting expression falling over his face. A softening, perhaps?

But just as quickly as it appears, it leaves. He regards Moroha again with the same glacial stare as before.

 _Thank the Gods for Rin,_ Moroha can't help but think to herself, looking between them both. Her presence alone diffused the situation.

"You were asleep when we came back, Moroha-chan," Rin remarks, smiling at her now. Beside Sesshomaru's icy gaze, her face looks like the warm sun. "I was going to wake you up, but you looked so peaceful! I would have felt bad if I disturbed you."

"You should have woken me up, Oba-san. I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"Oh, whatever. It's okay, Moroha-chan. We all need naps once in a while."

"No..." Moroha retorts, shaking her head in disagreement. "I shouldn't have slept. I have things to do. I need to look for work and-"

Moroha cuts her sentence off at the puzzled look on her aunt's face.

"You haven't been told yet, Moroha-chan?" Rin brings a finger to her lips, confused.

"... Been told what?"

"I must have interrupted before he said it. I didn't even know until today, either!" Rin exclaims, looking up at Sesshomaru adoringly and tightening her hold on his arm. "Should I tell her or do you want to?"

Moroha stands rooted to where she stands, anticipating this new piece of information. Sesshomaru says nothing, but he has a contemplative look in his eye. As though he's second-guessing her.

Rin turns her head and opens her mouth to tell her the news, but Sesshomaru says it first.

"You have a position with the Taisho Corporation," he states blandly. "You will start on Monday."

If her legs weren't so rigid at the moment Moroha swears she would have fallen to the floor purely out of shock.

"Really?" Moroha gasps, her eyes wide. She hadn't been expecting that at all. "At T-Corp? Doing what?"

"What you're told."

 _Great job description,_ she chides to herself.

Rin also looks up at her husband with an exasperated look on her face, clearly not impressed with the curt answer Moroha was given. But it quickly fades away, and her aunt looks at her again. "It's an office, Moroha-chan. The one in Kochi. I doubt you'll be doing anything crazy."

 _As long as it's not cleaning,_ she scoffs, but Moroha does not voice that thought out loud either. She has to take anything she can get.

"T-thank you," she stutters, giving a little bow in her uncle's direction. Her mind raced with the new information she's been given. "For arranging that."

"Don't disappoint me."

It's not encouragement, but another warning. Moroha's relief is quickly replaced with the pressure of living up to his expectations.

"Take my word for it, she'll do great. Won't you, Moroha-chan?" Rin looks overjoyed with her assertion.

"I will," she states firmly, still uneasy but determined now. "I promise."

"I know. I believe in you, after all!"

Heat rises to her face at that. A moment, one she holds dear, from long ago enters her mind. _Rin... Did you convince him to do this?_

Rin gazes up at Sesshomaru, affection shining in her eyes. The deep thoughts that Moroha had momentarily fallen into must have been apparent because Sesshomaru is looking at her intently. Again.

"So, Sesshomaru-sama," Rin begins with a happy and cheerful tone, "What do you want to do for the rest of the evening?"

"Anything you want," he says absent-mindedly, still watching Moroha.

Her aunt turns to her, "What are you going to do, Moroha-chan?"

"I might have something to eat," she replies offhandedly now that she's snapped back to reality, returning her uncle's stare. "I don't know about after that."

"Well, I ate while you were sleeping, so you can have whatever you want." Rin offers, looking back towards the kitchen. "I think we have pancake mix too, in case you want to make breakfast-for-dinner."

"Yeah," Moroha mumbles. "Maybe."

Rin physically turns to walk away, her arm still firmly linked with Sesshomaru's as she leads him. He gives Moroha another jarring glance, and after a moment, Sesshomaru leaves with her.

"Do you want to go for another walk once the snow lets up, Sesshomaru-sama? Or maybe..."

Their voices fade away as they walk off to their wing of the house. Once they are out of sight Moroha doesn't go into the kitchen but makes a beeline for her room at the opposite end of the estate. So much has happened in the span of five minutes, and the stinging sensation that tingled behind her eyes rises again, more pronounced this time. She needs a moment to regain herself.

_I believe in you, after all!_

All that Moroha can process, once the bedroom door shuts and the tears begin, is the deepening appreciation she feels for her aunt.

* * *

_**Winter of 2016** _

_Moroha is led by an officer down a chilly, white brick hallway with plain tile floors. Her hands are cuffed in front of her, tightly and uncomfortably, as the prison alarm indicating the start of cell inspection sounds off in the distance._

_She regards the sign protruding out of the wall beside the door she waits outside of. 'Supervised Visitation Room.'_

_"Ayame-sama," she addresses the officer who has a firm grip on the cuffs and her bicep, "are you absolutely sure it's not my mother visiting?"_

_When she had been informed that she had a visitor waiting for her, hope had risen in Moroha's heart like it never had before. It had made itself blatantly apparent on her face, she couldn't even hide the intense emotion she felt._

_With everything that happened, everything going on in her life, she had expected her father to stay away. To stew in his anger by himself as he always did. But... her_ mother, _of all people_ _..._

_Moroha prayed, to any gods who could be bothered and were willing to listen, that it was her mother finally coming to see her. It had been almost a year, and she yearned to see her face again. Wished to see her smile, hear her comforting words. The desire to just have her presence and familiar scent nearby had been especially profound over the last few days._

_But, it wasn't to be. The kami were not listening. Her hope had perished just as quickly as it arose when she was told that, no, there was no Higurashi Kagome here to see her._

_"It's someone else on your visitation list," Ayame states matter-of-factly, waiting for the magnet locks to the visiting booths to be unlocked remotely. "I don't know their name or relation to you. I'm just here to transport and supervise."_

_Moroha felt the devastation so deeply within her soul that, if she had been alone, she would have begun to cry._

_Ayame looks down at the inmate beside her. The pained and worried look on Moroha's face causes Ayame's own expression to become a little softer._

_"They're going to shit when they see you, you know."_

_She knows. But Moroha still doesn't reply, her mood morose._

_Brutal, purple, and blue bruises line the one side of Moroha's face, and stitches closing a head wound cross from one side of her forehead to the other. Moroha's arms had mostly healed, but her wrists, where she had been grabbed during the altercation, were still tinged with pink burn marks._

_Moroha imagines the intensity of the assailant's spiritual power sizzling on the surface of her skin, running red hot through her veins, purifying the youkai blood that pumped through them._

It's probably better for Oka-san not to see me like this, after all...

_"Unlocking soon," a contorted voice from Ayame's walkie-talkie squeaks out, and a quick beep emanates from the device once the transmission has ended. Ayame grabs the equipment and brings it to her mouth, and it sounds off again as the wolf youkai begins to talk._

_"Hakkaku-san," Ayame addresses the officer on the other end, "Who is visiting inmate number 101057? Can you check the log?"_

_There is an elongated moment of silence before the crackling signal comes through again._

_"Taisho Rin," the voice on the other end replies, "Signed in twenty minutes or so ago."_

_"Shit..." Moroha mumbles under her breath, her voice barely above a whisper._

_"Thanks," Ayame says into the microphone of the device, fastening it back onto her belt afterward. "Does that answer your question?"_

Why? _Moroha wonders to herself, keeping her eyes to the floor._ How does she even know I'm here?

_The only reasoning Moroha could come to is that her mother, or father, though she doubted that, must have told her._

_She had spoken to Rin occasionally on the phone throughout the years, but it was routine small talk. Briefly catching up, just to be polite, before handing the phone back to Kagome so Moroha could get back to whatever it was she had been doing._

_The last time Moroha had seen her aunt in person was when she was thirteen, maybe fourteen. Rin had just happened to be stopping by in Tokyo and had asked her mother if she wanted to get together. She had been invited to tag along but refused. Moroha spoke to her briefly when she showed up at their complex, and again when Rin and her mother had left for lunch._

_Moroha would never say that her aunt wasn't a nice lady, she was. But their exchanges, and their relationship, had been so inconsequential that Moroha had forgotten about it completely until now._

Why? _Moroha wracks her brain again as the signal roars from the door to inform them that the magnet locks had disengaged._ Why is she here to see me?

_"Now remember, no touching, remain in the seiza position and don't discuss other prisoners," Ayame emphasizes that last instruction as she grabs the metal handle, opening the door just slightly. "This visit won't be unsupervised."_

_Moroha nods, trying to summon the remaining scraps of her courage._

_Ayame opens the door to the visiting room. "Step forwards, inmate."_

_Moroha takes another long moment to gather herself before she, apprehensively, strides into the windowless tatami room._

_When Rin first sees her, she looks incredibly pleased. Happy, maybe even relieved. But as she looks at her niece's face, and completely processes what she is seeing, her expression turns to one of shocked horror. Her eyes are as wide as saucers._

_"Moroha-chan...!" Rin gasps, and she moves to stand up. "What happened to you?!"_

_Moroha looks down at the floor as she sits down. The worry plastered across Rin's face just makes her feel even more ashamed._

_"Don't freak out, Oba-san."_

_"Don't freak out? How could I not?!" Rin retorts, her voice almost hysterical. "Look at your face!" Her gaze lowers to Moroha's arms, where the remnants of the burns remain. "Oh my...!"_

_Moroha jumps a little as the door slams with a loud bang, and Ayame comes up behind her to stand casually in the corner of the room. Her aunt looks at the officer questioningly, not sure exactly why she's here._

_"The prisoner isn't entitled to unsupervised visits right now," Ayame explains simply, leaning casually against the wall. "So I'll be staying."_

_Rin gives the officer an unbelieving look before it all dawns on her._

_"I wanted to come to visit you a week or so ago, but when I called they told me I couldn't come to see you until today." Rin stares at Moroha incredulously. "And they told me I'd only get fifteen minutes with you! Is this why?"_

_"Yeah," Moroha avoids looking at her directly, keeping Rin within her peripheral vision. "My privileges were revoked."_

_Rin's features start to waver, pity overwhelming her face. "What happened, Moroha-chan?"_

_"I got into a fight," Moroha replies, not wanting to get into further details. "That's it."_

_Rin's eyes trail down from her face back to her arms. "Why... Why are you fighting with people in here?"_

_Moroha wants to tell her, wants to vent, and spill her feelings all out onto the table. But Ayame gives her a pointed look, and immediately, Moroha knows she can't reveal anything. She can't discuss other inmates._

_"It was... just a misunderstanding." Moroha summarizes, the restraint obvious in her voice. "I can't tell you any more than that."_

_Rin opens her mouth to reproach her, but Moroha continues._

_"For what's it's worth, they and I have come to an understanding." Moroha looks up at her aunt, dead serious. She hopes that Rin can tell that she's telling the complete and honest truth._ _"So I don't want you to worry about it. It's not going to happen again."_

_"Of course I'm worried about it!" Rin bursts out, shaking her head in complete and utter disbelief. "I had no idea what to expect when I came here, but this wasn't it!"_

_Moroha tightens her lips into a thin line, doing her best to repress the panic bubbling within her as Rin continues._

_"I have to tell your mother. I can't be-"_

_"No. No no no no." Moroha's voice begins to crack, and as the thought of her mother crosses her mind in midst of the moment, she can't hold it back anymore. A few tears fall out her eyes and down her cheeks._

_"Please don't tell her, Rin." Moroha begs in a small voice, her mouth contorting into a pout now that she's begun to cry. "I... I've disappointed her enough."_

_"But Moroha-chan..."_

_Moroha fights to keep a straight face but fails, and finally looks away as her features crumble. She feels numb, more isolated than she has ever felt in her entire life. Lonely enough for her chest to physically hurt._

Mama...

_"Don't move." She hears Ayame reprimand her aunt in the background, and realizes that Rin had moved to hug her, to comfort her. But couldn't._

_For a minute or so, she goes through waves of emotions crashing on her and washing away. Once she thinks the outburst is over, that she can handle going on with the conversation, a rush of helplessness envelops her just to give way to quiet weeping. Over and over again._

_Moroha finally regains her composure and, sniffing loudly, looks at Rin. Rin's covering her own mouth, attempting to keep as quiet as possible, but her eyes and cheeks are wet too._

_"Please." Moroha pleads again, her barely above a whisper. "Please... don't tell her, Oba-san. She'll be even angrier with me._ They'll _be even angrier with me."_

_A moment of silence falls between them, her plea hanging in the still air of the stagnant room._

_"I-I won't, Moroha-chan." Rin breathes softly, removing her hand from her mouth. "I won't say anything."_

_A relieved sigh leaves Moroha's chest in a huge woosh. The tears are dripping off her nose, and she tries to wipe her face as best as she possibly can with her hands cuffed._

_"How... How did you even find out where I was?" Moroha asks once the tightness in her chest loosens. She's genuinely curious to know. "Does Oji-san know you're here?"_

_"Yes, he knows I came by. Your..." Rin pauses, unsure about bringing her up again, "Your mother told me. I had just called to check in... and I asked to speak with you. To see how you were doing."_

_"And she told you." Moroha finishes, the shame rushing to her face._

_"Yes..."_

_Moroha sits in silence, a pensive look on her face as she contemplates how that conversation could have gone._

_"So I came because I wanted to see how you were doing... I didn't get my answer, back then."_

_Moroha mulls over that, thankful that anyone even cared enough to drop by and see how she was doing. It felt like it had been forever since she had visitors._

_"I really fucked up," Moroha says in a low voice, inhaling deeply so she doesn't start getting emotional again. "Oka-san was really upset with me, the last time I spoke to her. I think she might actually hate me. For real."_

_The time when she and her mother were alone, in the hotel bathroom, enters her mind._

There is nothing you could ever do to make Oyaji and I hate you. Do you understand me?

 _Rin shakes her head fervently, and the action catches Moroha's attention. "No, Moroha. That's not it at all." Her aunt stops, treading carefully on how she's going to word what she wants to say next. "_ _She's... hurt. Incredibly hurt."_

_"I know," Moroha inhales deeply again, "But I miss her."_

_"She misses you too, Moroha-chan," Rin reassures her. "So much. I just... don't think she's ready to see you yet. It would be hard for anyone to see their loved one like this. When people are dealing with their feelings, you have to give them time. You can't force it."_

_Moroha's breathing is evening out now, and she nods in agreement with what Rin is telling her. Her face is dry from tears, and she feels a sense of calm now that she has cried it out._

_"... Thank you for coming to see me, Oba-san, I'm really happy you came. Even though..." She trails off._ Even though I cried the whole time.

_"I'm happy I came too, Moroha-chan."_

_Both women look at each other and smile. Rin's face is bright and happy._

_"Your time is almost up, inmate." Ayame interrupts, awkwardly standing in the corner. Moroha had nearly forgotten she was there, she had been so quiet._

_"How are you liking the show?" Moroha jokes, looking over her shoulder at the wolf youkai. "Enough drama for you? Will you tune in next week?"_

_Ayame rolls her eyes but doesn't respond._ It must be weird for her to have to stand there and listen to this kind of thing all the time. _Moroha turns to look at Rin, who is laughing a little._

_"Well, you're joking around again," Rin observes, winking at her. "That's a good thing, right?"_

_"Yeah," Moroha nods, "Must be a good omen."_

_Rin returns her smile, but suddenly her face becomes serious again._

_"Moroha-chan, I just want to tell you I believe in you. I really do." Rin says it with conviction. "I really believe that you'll become a better person at the end of all this."_

_Moroha grins. She needed to hear that. "I hope so, Oba-san."_

_"I believe in you!" She says again, her sentiment completely genuine. Almost child-like. "Some of us just end up learning our lessons the hard way."_

_A timer suddenly beeps, and both women realize their visit is over._

_"Time to go back, inmate," Ayame states, walking towards where they are sitting. Moroha stands up, allowing the redhead to grab her handcuffs and her arm._

_"I'm going to keep visiting you, Moroha-chan," Rin tells her, clasping her hands in front of her. "I hope that's okay."_

_"Yeah," Moroha replies, pleased. "I'd really like that, actually. I'd like that a lot."_

_"I'll come again as soon as I'm able!"_

_Ayame leads her towards the exit, but before she shuts the door, Moroha looks over her shoulder back towards her aunt._

_"Behave yourself!" Rin tells her, waving. "Don't get into any trouble. I don't want to have to worry about you!"_

_"Okay, Oba-san. I'll try my best."_

_And, with a loud thud, the door shuts. She and Ayame start walking down the hall back towards the prison block._

_"Nice lady," Ayame remarks, "It'll be good for you to get visitors again, I think."_

_"Yeah... I think so too."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you all that the last chapter was long just to set the mood, and I still ended up outdoing myself with a higher word count on the second chapter. Welp.
> 
> Japanese prisons are brutal, and sentences for crimes we consider to be petty in the West are quite harsh in Japan. I did as much research as I could, but unfortunately, resources on Japan's penal system are limited in English. I will do my best to stay as close to the reality of a Japanese prison as possible. Please be understanding if I get some things wrong, or take small creative liberties here and there.
> 
> Fun fact: The penguin mascots that Moroha describes at the support center are actually the ones the Japanese use and associate with offender rehabilitation. Their names are Hogo-chan and Sarah-chan. I found out about them during my research and I could not help mentioning them in my fanfic. The yellow feather they hold is a well-known symbol throughout Japan, and it stands as a symbol of "the joy and hope of being free and the bright future that lies ahead." The mascots hold these feathers to represent amicable reconciliation for offenders and the communities they reintegrate into.
> 
> I'd like to say thank you to everyone who reviewed and read my story. I hope you continue to enjoy it.


	3. Settling

_Read. Sign. Stamp. Put in the pile. Read. Sign. Stamp. Put in the pile._

It was easy. Almost mind-numbingly easy. That was the best way to describe being a professional paper-pusher at the Taisho Corporation — or T-Corp, as it was called around here. Day in and day out, the task had been the same. _Check the reports and sign off on them._ Moroha couldn't tell if she was relieved by or dissatisfied with the repetitiveness of the job. But throughout the day Moroha found that she was telling herself, multiple times, that it was better than absolutely nothing. That, at the very least, it wasn't cleaning.

It had been three weeks since she had started at the office in Kochi. She had been told to show up at 8:00 AM on her first day, and that someone would be waiting to greet her in the front foyer of the building when she came in.

"Be gracious to whoever trains you," Sesshomaru advised in a low tone, handing Moroha the lanyard with her attached credentials the evening before she started. It was the first time he had spoken to her since warning her to behave herself. "It is outside of hiring season."

Moroha looked over the card, eying the sticker that read 'TEMPORARY' on the front covering the T-Corp logo. _They'll probably take my photo tomorrow and get me my real card._ When she flipped it over to the other side, where the bar code and her details were, Moroha noticed a more than peculiar error.

"The card says _Higurashi_ Moroha," she stated, looking back up at Sesshomaru. "You got my family name wrong. It's _Taisho,_ the same as yours."

"There is no mistake."

"So then why is my name wrong?" She questioned him incredulously. "I don't get it."

"It is better for you to not be associated with that name. It could draw negative, unwanted attention."

"For who, me or you?"

Sesshomaru did not reply to her, just merely raised an eyebrow in response. Moroha got the impression that he was questioning her intelligence. His silence spoke volumes.

After that, she had barely seen him, let alone spoken to him. Moroha noticed that Sesshomaru mostly kept to himself outside of the time he spent with Rin near the end of the day before her aunt fell asleep. He was either in his office, out walking amongst the nature that surrounded the estate, or he stayed in his quarters within his wing of the house. If they did ever cross paths, and Moroha could only count on one hand how many times that happened, he would look at her disdainfully and disregard her as he continued on his way.

She hated having to walk on eggshells around him. Moroha would have almost preferred Sesshomaru to lash her with his words instead of carrying on like this. At least when she argued with Oyaji it was all out in the open, all out on the table. There were no qualms about what each person felt. But _this_ , this was like torture.

It didn't help that ever since Sesshomaru mentioned her father, told her that he thought she was a _disappointment_ and a _failure_ , she could not get the conversation or Inuyasha off of her mind no matter what she tried to distract herself with.

 _How would Sesshomaru know that?_ Moroha had wracked her brain over it for weeks, mulling over the paperwork on her desk day-in and day-out, unable to come up with any plausible explanation. _Did he and Oyaji finally talk while I was away?_

Finally, only a few nights ago when she and Rin were having dinner together in front of the TV, she mustered up enough courage to speak. Moroha could not resist the temptation to ask any longer.

"Oba-san," she rubbed her feet together under the warmth of the kotatsu, "do my parents know I am here?"

"No, of course not Moroha-chan," her aunt had assured her, reaching for the vegetables in the hotpot with her chopsticks. "We never said anything. Why?"

"No reason," Moroha had mumbled, not wanting to tell Rin about the _pleasant conversation_ she and her uncle had together. "I was just wondering."

Rin gave her a small smile, not pressing any further, and turned her attention back to the television. Suddenly, another question came to Moroha and she couldn't help but ask.

"How come Oji-san never eats with us?" Moroha ate a quick bite of rice before continuing, "It's always just you and me."

"Sesshomaru-sama doesn't eat human food," Rin replied matter-of-factly, still keeping her eyes on the program that was playing. "Usually he would sit with me and keep me company while I ate, but…" she smiled brightly, turning to Moroha. "Now that you're here, I have you to eat with. I get to cook more now that you're here, Moroha-chan!"

Moroha gave her a weak grin before going back to her food, picking at the meat in her bowl. Her voice became noticeably quieter. "Oh, good. I thought it may have been because he didn't like me all that much."

She had been half-joking, half-sincere. Even after saying that, her aunt seemed none the wiser to her predicament. Her expression remained unchanged and her eyes stayed glued to the screen. "How could anyone not like you, Moroha-chan?" Rin gave her niece a quick, playful nudge with her elbow.

Moroha was content to leave it at that, but after a moment's thought, Rin tore her eyes away from the television to face her. Her features remained soft, but she had a serious look in her eye as she looked at her niece. "If there was an issue, I would have heard about it. Sesshomaru-sama has a lot on his mind, especially lately. I know he can be… distant, but don't take anything too personally. Sometimes it just takes him a while to open up, that's all."

"Yeah," was the only thing Moroha could muster in response, knowing damn well that it was more than a matter of getting Sesshomaru to simply warm up to people and that it was, most definitely, _her_.

* * *

_**Summer of 2002** _

_Moroha studied the tip of her toes, her eyes remaining fixated on the tiny hole that was in one of the socks on her feet. She only looked back up again, brown eyes meeting golden ones, when her mother placed her hands on her shoulders._

" _I'm going to go now, Morocchi," Kagome told her, giving her shoulders a quick squeeze and a peck on her cheek. "Be a good girl for Oyaji today, okay?"_

" _You're leaving already?" Moroha asked, turning around to look up at her mother as her hands pulled away. She hadn't gotten to say anything yet! They just left the bathroom! "B-But—"_

" _Yes, I have to get going," Kagome said, walking around from behind her daughter and towards Inuyasha. She put her hands lightly on his chest and leaned forward to kiss him goodbye on the lips. "If I don't go now, I'm going to be late."_

 _Moroha raised an eyebrow as she looked at her parents, her father's eyes now fixated on her mother's face, whose back was turned to her. She could have sworn her mother had mouthed something to him —_ Talk to her, Inuyasha! _— but wasn't one hundred percent sure._

_Moroha was willing to let it go, just this once, as her mother had asked her to do. The question was whether or not Inuyasha was willing to do the same._

_Her father's ears rested flat against his head as Kagome turned away and grabbed the car keys. As she strode by, she gave Moroha a reassuring smile. "I'll be back later and then we'll go to Kyoto, okay?"_

" _Okay Mama," Moroha pouted, watching her mother as she walked to the entrance of the suite and turned the knob._

" _I love you both," Kagome told them, stepping out and hovering in the doorway before closing the door completely behind her. "See you!"_

_They both murmured their replies and, as the door closed with a resounding click, father and daughter turned back to look at one another. Moroha clasped her hands together in front of her, intertwining her fingers with one another and tucking one foot behind her other heel as she balanced._

_She had absolutely no clue what to do at this moment, and Moroha couldn't afford to say the wrong thing. She didn't think she could go another day dealing with the cold shoulder, especially from him._

_Moroha noticed his nose twitching as he sniffed the air, and wondered if he could smell her apprehension. The remorseful look in his eye made her believe that, maybe, she was right._

" _O-Oyaji," she whispered, tucking in her chin and looking at him from the top of her vision. "Can we talk now? I don't like this."_

_An emotion that Moroha was not quite able to pinpoint flashed over his face, and he stayed quiet. The room was agonizingly still, so still that Moroha swore she would have been able to hear a pin drop if it did. Inuyasha looked away, at nothing in particular, deep in thought. As though he was recalling something that had happened long ago._

_Moroha believed for a moment that the silent treatment would go on, that he would not forgive her after all. That there would be another day of uncomfortable silences and unbearable tension. But, the silence was filled soon enough. His eyes met hers again. "C'mere, kiddo."_

_His tone was calm, and thankfully, she didn't sense any anger coming from him. Moroha crossed the room in a few strides, eager to meet Inuyasha where he now crouched. As soon as she reached him, she didn't wait for him to say anything else. Moroha threw her arms around his neck to embrace him. Inuyasha returned the hug and, in response, she squeezed her arms even more tightly around him to hold him close. Moroha could feel tears coming back on but these weren't from fear or anxiety. Her father pulled back, smelling the scent of her tears._

" _What's wrong?" He frowned. "Why are you crying?"_

" _I don't know." She really didn't understand why her eyes were filling up with hot, wet tears. All she knew was that she felt incredibly relieved at this moment. Relieved that they could, possibly, make up and finally move on from the situation._

" _You gonna be alright?" Inuyasha cautiously asked, studying her face closely. Moroha nodded, wiping her face away with the back of her arm._

" _Yeah," she went back into the embrace for another hug, cuddling Inuyasha close to her again. "I think so."_

_Eventually, they pulled away from each other, and Moroha beamed at him, her little hands coming up to pat him on the shoulders reassuringly. "I'm sorry I kicked your seat, Oyaji."_

" _Don't worry about it," Inuyasha had his typical goofy grin on his face, but his dog ears remained flattened against his head. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have yelled at you, anyways." He paused awkwardly, his expression becoming more serious as he continued to a more pressing point. "And even if I get angry, I… I would never hate you, Morocchi. Even if I get super, super pissed."_

_Moroha's eyebrows shot up her forehead. "You heard me?"_

" _How couldn't I?" Inuyasha wiggled the ears on top of his head, pointing at them for emphasis. She couldn't help but giggle. "It's not a big deal that you said it. I just thought you oughta know."_

" _You eavesdropped!" Moroha teased, over dramatically shook her head._

" _Hey, you listened in on me too yesterday!" He bantered back, not being able to help the grin that was plastered on his face. "At least_ I couldn't _help it!"_

_Moroha returned his grin with a devilish one of her own, but it disappeared as soon as it came once she thought more closely about what he had previously said. The fact that he had mentioned him not hating her, even though he tried to shrug it off as not being a big deal, meant it was._

" _I didn't mean for you to hear that, Oyaji."_

" _Keh, whatever. Let's just forget it."_

Let it go, just this once. For him.

 _His ears wiggled again and reached to rub them between her hands. They were soft and felt like velvet between her fingers._ I love them, _she couldn't help but think. Moroha wished she had a pair herself._

" _So… what now?" Moroha asked, peering at him with her large, round eyes while lowering her arms. "I don't know what we should do."_

" _I don't know either," Inuyasha got up from his crouching position and walked towards a large pile in the corner of the room, which consisted of their suitcases and belongings. "The plan got a little fucked up."_

_Moroha ignored his swearing, her curiosity now piqued. "Plan? Were you going to do something?"_

" _Yeah," he muttered, leaning down to search through the luggage. "You were supposed to be staying with…_ them _," Inuyasha swallowed unconsciously at the mention of Sesshomaru and his family, "for the morning while I went out to do stuff."_

_Moroha watched the shirt that was flung over Inuyasha's shoulder fly through the air before landing back on the floor. "What stuff?"_

_Inuyasha briefly paused as he rooted through the carry-on, unsure of how to word what he wanted to say. After a few moments of contemplative silence, he told her. "I was going to go see my parents."_

" _But aren't they…" She paused as though she was about to say a naughty word, and her voice turned into a low whisper. "But aren't they_ dead _?"_

" _Yeah. They are," he grabbed the clothes he had been looking for from the bottom of the pile, which was now in an even worse state of disarray than it was before. "I was gonna go to pay my respects. It's been a long time."_

_Moroha had never thought too deeply about it, his parents, before. She had always had Grandma Higurashi and Jii-chan to spoil her rotten with gifts, sweets, and attention whenever she saw them. The only memory she could recall of that side of her family was an old photo, taken sometime in the sixties, sitting in their living room back home. The picture was of a pretty woman with long hair, doe eyes, and bright red lipstick. Beside her, a tall man with long white hair, like Oyaji, in a high ponytail with violet markings on his face. His expression was happy. Downright jolly, even._

_She had never paid the photo, or even that side of her family, very much attention. It had just never interested her. But now, she was curious. Moroha furrowed her brows, "And you weren't going to bring me?"_

" _Nah. It's sad shit," he replied, handing her clothes that were now rolled up in a bundle. Once she took them, he went back to looking through the suitcases for his own attire for the day. "Didn't wanna be a downer."_

" _I'll go with you anyway!" She burst out. It left her mouth before she even had a chance to think about it._

_Inuyasha stopped what he was doing momentarily to brood on her offer, his expression unsure. "I dunno, Morocchi."_

" _I want to go," she asserted again, gripping her clothing tightly in her hand. He didn't look entirely convinced, so she tried again. "I told you I would have your back a few days ago, didn't I? In the car, remember? It's still true!"_

_Moroha watched the smile tug up at the corner of his lips as he recalled that moment. Finally, he looked at her in the eye. "Yeah, I remember. Alright, alright. We'll go," he pulled his clothes out of the pile that had accumulated. "But think of something you'd want to do after, alright? It'll just be depressin' if we don't do something fun after, at least."_

* * *

The loud, resounding thud of a stack of papers hitting her desk snapped her out of her train of thought.

"S-Sorry!" Tamano apologized, bowing a few times before looking back up at Moroha. "I've brought you more gifts!"

"Great," She muttered, grabbing the first sheet off the pile. "More gifts..."

Moroha had joked, on her first day, about how every stack of papers Tamano brought to her was bestowed on her as though it was a very special, exclusive present. An offering that she couldn't possibly pass up. Moroha wasn't sure if the girl was a little socially awkward, or if their little inside joke really was that funny, because Tamano was still referencing it every time she stopped by Moroha's desk. Even three weeks later.

"One of these days, Higurashi-chan, I'll bring you something that you'll actually like!"

"Y-yeah," Moroha muttered. She wanted to play along, but the joke was so washed up now that she could hardly conjure up a witty wisecrack in response. "Well, there's no time like _the present_ , right?"

Tamano giggled, giving her a bright smile as she walked off. Once she had left, Moroha eyed the tower of paperwork that loomed over her.

"… No time like the present," A high-pitched voice mocked from the desk in front of her, repressing laughter. " _Very_ smooth, Moroha-chan. Real punny of you."

"Shut up, Takechiyo!" Moroha muttered, rolling her eyes as she divided the sheets of paper into piles. She scanned the room to make sure no one else could hear her. "You're just jealous that pretty girls come to the desk and talk to _me_ , and not you."

"Oh, I'm not jealous. You're actually informative!" Takechiyo countered, poking his head from around the computer screen. "Actually informing me what not to say to… well, just about anyone."

"Yeah right. You're cackling to yourself over there, so what does that mean?"

"Believe me, I'm not laughing _with_ you. I'm laughing _at_ you," a playful, mischievous smirk crossed Takechiyo's face. "If you ever need some lessons on humor, hit me up. I might be able to cure those awful puns of yours."

"Oh, on the contrary, Takechiyo-kun…"

Moroha glanced up from the papers and Takechiyo tore his gaze from his computer screen to look up at the figure, their supervisor, seated across from them. He had apparently been listening to their exchange quite intently.

"… if laughter is the best medicine then listening to you jest, surely, must be like breathing in poisonous miasma."

"Riku-san!" Takechiyo whined at his insult, and Moroha couldn't help the smirk that was now plastered on her face. When Riku got in on the bantering it always turned into comedy gold. "Do you enjoy watching me suffer?"

"Well of course I do, Takechiyo-kun. Why do you think I moved my desk here?" Riku tilted his head, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair as he continued to tease the tanuki. "With Higurashi-chan's charm and my wit, the self-flagellation you engage in daily just trying to keep up is too good of a show to pass up on."

"Riku-saaan!"

Moroha tried, but failed, to repress her chuckle as she continued sorting through their work. Takechiyo's suffering at the hands of Riku always amused her. She had settled in so easily with the routine of bantering with her desk mates that it was almost second nature to spit out something clever as soon as one of them said something absurd. But now, as she looked at all the tasks set out in front of her, she had to willfully focus on trying on tuning them out. If she got in too deep with teasing and belittling with these two she'd be here all day and night.

As she wrapped up sorting through the paperwork she sighed, looking between the two mountains worth of it now on her desk. "I hate to break up the good time, but you're gonna have more to worry about than me and my social life. Because _this_ ," Moroha slowly moved one pile of paper towards Takechiyo so it wouldn't topple over, "is _yours_."

Takechiyo frowned. "Aww, man."

Moroha hummed a noise of agreement, reaching for her stamp and pen. She was determined to _not_ have to stay until late in the evening again. The sooner she got started, the better. "Whatever, we'll get it done."

Takechiyo furrowed his brows, looking at the heap of reports in front of him. Suddenly a sly look overcame his face, and he looked at Moroha out of the corner of his eyes. "You know what would help me work faster, though?"

Moroha jadedly punched one of the papers with her stamp, the satisfaction of the word REJECTED hitting the paper having worn off awhile ago, as she looked up at her co-worker. "What?"

"Coffee."

Moroha raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Then go get some. Tamano restocked the kitchen this morning."

"Well…" Takechiyo drawled out the word, the elongated syllable dragging through the air. "I was hoping my kouhai would be able to bring some to me."

"Oh come on, really? I just got started on my pile." She placed her pen flat on the desk, exasperated. Now he was just taunting her. "And you only started a few months before me, by the way."

"Still. _Before_ you!"

Moroha gave him a disapproving expression. They both sat like that for a few seconds, staring each other down, before Moroha stood up and grabbed the cup sitting at the corner of Takechiyo's desk. "You're always busting my chops, man!"

"You're always busting my chops, _senpai_." Takechiyo corrected, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He couldn't help but scoff at the sound of Moroha's irate, low growl as she started to walk off.

"Higurashi-chan, if you're going to be making some coffee," Riku looked up briefly from his screen to her and held up his own mug, "would you be so kind?"

Moroha had to hold back the annoyed sigh that threatened to burst from her lungs. _What am I, the waitress?_ "Sure Riku-san," she took his cup, but turned to Takechiyo to give him another pointed look. "But only because you _asked nicely_."

"The best kouhai is the who will still get you coffee even as you roast them," Takechiyo chided again. "I didn't even have to be nice about it, unlike Riku-san."

 _Asshole._ She snickered at that comment as she left their corner of the office to head towards the break room. _One of these days, I swear…_

"Thank you Higurashi-chan!" Riku's singsong voice rang out behind her as he went back to studying the information on his monitor. "I appreciate that!"

"Yeah yeah," she shrugged them both off as she walked away towards the office kitchen. When Moroha entered the break room she beelined for the cupboards, opening them to search for a bag of coffee grinds while mumbling under her breath. "Honestly, those two—"

"'Honestly those two…' What?"

Moroha jumped at the voice behind her, almost spilling the coffee grinds from the motion. She looked over her shoulder at the person sitting at the table behind her and internally groaned. Was luck not on her side today?

"Hi Danjo-san," she muttered, her focus now back on dumping the grinds into the filter. "How's it going?"

"Oh hoh hoh, better now that you're here!" Aiya exclaimed, and Moroha bristled at the sound of her characteristic laugh. "Who are you talking about?"

"Takechiyo-san and Riku-san," she replied, ignoring the fact that Aiya hadn't asked how she herself was doing. Moroha purposefully did not go further into detail in regards to Aiya's question. Aiya had a tendency of making a mountain out of a molehill whenever the possibility of a dramatic spectacle arose. "We were just messing around."

"Riiight. I should go over and talk to them more than I do, but they kid around too hard for me, you know?" The scrape of the legs from Aiya's chair accompanied the loud beeps from the coffee machine as Moroha pressed the buttons. "I don't want to say anything _ridiculous_ …"

"Just throw it right back at them. Be mean if you want, they can take it," Moroha advised absentmindedly, watching the coffee pot fill with steam as the water in the machine heated. Riku vs Takechiyo vs Aiya. Now _that_ would be fun to watch. "They'd probably like it, actually."

"Oh hoh hoh, you would know, wouldn't you Higurashi-chan?" Aiya was beside her now, her elbows resting on the counter as her palms cupped her face. She had a mischievous twinkle in her eye. This wasn't going to be good. "You spend all day _chatting_ with them, after all. You enjoy the attention, don't you?"

Moroha's repressed the urge to roll her eyes at Aiya's implication that she had been flirting. _Here she goes._ "Well, I gotta run out the clock somehow, right? Not like there's any other noise outside of what those two make."

"That's true," the older woman pouted, standing up straight again. "I mean, I _would_ sit around and hang out with your department, but I have to wait for calls to come in. Gosh, some of the people who phone in can be so stupid!"

"Oh yeah?" The old coffee machine sputtered to life as the hot beverage began to brew.

"Yeah! Honestly, it wasn't until I started working at this position in the call center that I realized how dumb most people really are. And those four idiots in charge here…! Geez, wait until you get a load of this!"

As Aiya began to prattle and gossip about people and matters that Moroha didn't know much of anything about, she watched the coffee pot fill up with warm, hot liquid. As the smell filled the room Moroha couldn't help but scrunch her face up, the odor overwhelming her sensitive nose. She nodded her head and make noises occasionally to indicate to Aiya that she was listening, and Moroha had honestly wanted to pay careful attention. Normally she would have been interested, Moroha much rather preferred to be in the loop than outside of the circle in oblivion. But there were too many other things on her mind which already begun to wander. Her thoughts had tried to steer themselves back towards her father and the past, no matter how many objects or tasks Moroha tried to distract herself with.

"So what are you doing this weekend, Higurashi-chan?" Aiya asked, seemingly done with filling Moroha in on the office gossip. "Got anything planned?"

"No, actually," Thank the gods, the coffee was done. She picked up the pot and began to pour the coffee into Riku and Takechiyo's mugs. "My family is going to be away for a while, so I finally get the place to myself."

Sesshomaru and Rin were heading for New York the following morning to attend Towa and Setsuna's graduation ceremony. They would be bringing her cousins home with them after everything was said and done, but in the meantime, Moroha would be left to her own devices to 'watch the house' as Rin had put it. Moroha wasn't entirely sure how she felt about it yet. Part of her was excited, while another part of her dreaded it. It was going to be the first time in years where she would be left in complete solitude. While it would be nice to relax in her own company, Moroha knew that it wouldn't turn out that way no matter how much she willed it. She was going to be lonesome by the end of the week, and she never did well mentally when she felt that she was alone.

_Me, alone, with nothing but thoughts of the past. Not a good time._

Without skipping a beat Aiya had moved on from chattering on about the hot topics of the office to her plans for the weekend, again which involved people and matters that Moroha didn't completely understand or know at all. But as Moroha picked up the full coffee cups and walked behind the woman as she continued to go on, she savored the distraction. Moroha relished in just about anything else that could occupy her mind right now.

* * *

_**Spring of 2016** _

" _Wait,_ what _?"_

_Moroha's eyebrows rose so far up her forehead she thought they may have been flung off her scalp if they weren't attached. Moroha stared back at the woman, not blinking as she maintained her gaze, looking for any sign that there was a joke in between the lines that she wasn't catching. She pulled her mask down to her chin to expose her mouth, the fumes of the oven cleaner hitting her sensitive nose. Moroha was grateful she had even had the mask on, because at this moment she wasn't sure if her jaw had dropped._

_The female youkai smirked, leaning on the counter to take in Moroha's reaction. Moroha's eyes widened at her change of expression. "Did I hear you right?"_

_Kagura brought her hand to her mouth, reveling in the shihanyou's shock. "You heard me."_

_Moroha's sudden bark of stunned, surprised laughter filled the empty kitchen, and she couldn't help but feel grateful that there were no guards around. All of the regular kitchen workers were out for lunch, leaving them alone together as Kagura went on about her business and Moroha cleaned. Moroha turned on her haunches in the direction of the woman standing over her, closing the oven door so the chemicals could work their magic._

" _Koga and Ayame… together?"_

" _You didn't hear it from me," Kagura said, standing back up and sauntering towards the walk-in fridge at the rear of the cooking area. Moroha eagerly followed her, wanting to hear more of the story. "Next time you see them, watch." The woman tugged on the handle of the fridge, the burst of cool air escaping and hitting both of them. "They have something going on between them. It's written all over her face."_

" _Do they?" Moroha pondered, eying the fresh food sitting on the shelves of the cooling unit as she stood in the doorway. She audibly shivered as a chill ran through her body. "I see them all the time. I never noticed anything."_

" _That's because you haven't been paying close attention," Kagura chided her, grabbing the ingredients she would need for the upcoming meal. "You didn't smell anything? I thought it would be worth asking, considering you're part inuyoukai."_

 _The heat rose to Moroha's face. The thought of both the guards together made her blush with embarrassment, and Moroha had never paid any conscious attention to either of their scents before. She tried to think of any occasion, anything at all, that would have registered in her mind at these two being an item. Moroha couldn't come up with_ anything _. "I've never noticed anything strange, and they don't smell as though they've been mated or anything like that. Do you think this has been going on for long?"_

" _No," Kagura answered, brushing past her to leave the fridge and letting Moroha sidestep around her before she shut the door. "This is a new development, I just heard more about it through the woodworks. It has…_ intrigued _me, so I thought I would ask you," she strode up to the counter, unceremoniously dropping the foodstuffs in her arms out onto the stainless steel counter._

" _Huh." She felt that Kagura knew more than she was letting on, but wasn't going to press any further. Moroha stared off into space, lost in thought as she considered the implications of this new dramatic saga._

" _You see them every day when you do your rounds, so if you notice anything unusual…" Kagura gave her a sultry smile, "let me know."_

" _I will," Moroha told her, glancing over at the oven where her materials laid. The oven cleaner wouldn't have finished doing its job yet. She wandered over to the large garbage bin near the industrial dishwasher, still in sight of Kagura, and she unconsciously wrapped the end of the plastic bag tightly before tying it into a knot. "And even if they are together, why do you think they haven't made it official?"_

" _Oh, you aren't aware?" Kagura raised an eyebrow, looking over her shoulder to watch the young woman put a new bag into the bin while washing the heap of vegetables near the sink. "The Wolf Elder is retiring. Word is, Koga is getting the position. Or going for it, anyway."_

_Moroha's eyes widened for what felt like the umpteenth time since she and Kagura had started chatting. "Koga? Koga is going to be the warden?"_

_Kagura gave her that all-knowing, sly smile in response._

" _So what, you think he's putting it off until he has the new job in the bag?" Moroha hoisted the trash over her shoulder, walking towards the swinging kitchen doors before placing the bag back down again. She made a mental note to grab it as she left. "Ayame, I mean?"_

" _That's what I'm thinking. It wouldn't look good for the new, young, promising potential warden to be having_ relations _with one of his officers. Plus, if some of the youkai in here caught whiff of anything to do with those two they could become targets…" Kagura speculated, wiping her hands and resting one on her hip as she pondered the situation. "As I said before, none of this has been confirmed. Keep it to yourself."_

" _I will," Moroha promised, walking back towards the oven and putting the mask back over her face to check the inside. The grime had come off well enough. "Honestly Kagura-san, every time I come in here I learn something new from you."_

" _Well, what else do we have to occupy our time these days?" She remarked, watching Moroha as she started wiping the chemicals from the inside of the appliance. "It's not like we're free to make our own drama. And working in here I end up hearing rumors all the time. These mangy wolves are the most interesting thing about this place."_

" _I suppose," Moroha finished wiping down the insides of the oven, putting the metal resting trays back inside to their proper place now that it was clean. "I think other people's shit is more interesting than my own anyway."_

_Kagura didn't have time to reply, as the kitchen door squeaked from swinging back and forth. Moroha panicked for a moment, thinking it was one of the guards coming in. But she relaxed as soon as she saw Kanna, Kagura's younger sister, noiselessly stride over to where they had both been chatting._

" _What is it, Kanna?" Kagura questioned, turning away from the young girl crouched down in front of her._

"She _is looking for you," Kanna simply whispered, her gaze remaining on Moroha. Kanna's eyes were so black that one felt as though they were simultaneously staring into a dark, endless abyss whilst gazing at their reflection in a mirror, all at once._

 _Her statement jolted Moroha into action, knowing exactly who Kanna meant by_ she _. Moroha looked up at the clock hanging high on the wall. She'd been in here for fifteen minutes now._ Shit! _"Alright, I have to go then," she muttered, closing the oven and grabbing the cleaner as she strode towards the kitchen door. She slung the garbage bag over her shoulder again when she reached it. "She's going to be pissed at me."_

" _Oh, I doubt that," Kagura purred, crossing her arms. "Remember, if you notice anything unusual, let me know."_

_Moroha smiled and nodded, pushing her way out of the kitchen area. Kagura had definitely given her something to think about. "You'll be the first one I come to."_

* * *

"Make sure you go outside and visit A-Un every day, Moroha-chan. If he wanders off to fly around don't worry about it, A-Un always comes back. He just likes the exercise," Rin explained, fretting over the suitcases near the front door as she prepared for their later flight to New York. She had been abuzz all morning, barely stopping to even catch her breath. It was only when Moroha had run into her, having just woken up, that Rin finally stopped making a fuss for long enough to stand still. "You can ride him if you want to, but don't take the bridle off. It contains his youkai. If you _really_ want to be on A-Un's good side, sing to him once in a while. A-Un always likes it when I do it!"

Moroha had a feeling that A-Un didn't so much care for Rin's singing as much as A-Un just cared for Rin in general. Her aunt's voice could have sounded like nails on a chalkboard and A-Un would have tolerated it. The beast was quite taken with her, and Moroha always got the impression that he was more like an affectionate pet than a fearsome dragon youkai. And it was kind of sweet how Rin worried about him when she was away. Moroha hoped the beast would be fine with her stewardship over the course of the next few weeks.

"I wrote our phone numbers down just in case you need to get a hold of either of us. There's a fourteen-hour time difference, but I don't care," Rin shrugged on her coat onto her shoulders and began to button the garment up, "If you need us, call us."

Moroha couldn't help but smile at her aunt. Rin was always concerned about everyone else. "I will call you if something comes up, Oba-san."

"I'm going to call and check on you regardless Moroha-chan," Rin looked a little sullen now, "I feel bad leaving you by yourself. If I could bring you along, I would."

"It's not a big deal," Moroha assured her, even though Moroha herself didn't believe it entirely. "And you shouldn't feel bad. You get to see Towa, Setsuna, and their grandmother, right? You must be excited."

"I am very excited," Rin breathed, and she looked happy at the mention of her daughters. "I haven't seen Kimi in a while, I miss her. And we're all so proud of Towa and Setsuna, you know? They've both been working _so_ hard and they've finally reached the end. But the graduation ceremony is in English, I'm worried I won't be able to understand any of it."

"Oh, whatever. Don't worry about that. You get the gist of it, right? I'm sure they'll just be happy you were there."

Rin smiled. "Yes, I suppose that's all that matters," Her aunt looked as though she was lost in thought for a moment, perhaps thinking about reuniting with her family or how the ceremony was going to go. But just as quickly as Rin had jumped to this topic, she returned to her previous concern. "Moroha, are you sure you're going to be alright here by yourself?"

"Yeah," Moroha repeated in an attempt to alleviate her aunt's concerns, but Moroha didn't sound as sure this time. "I'll get used to it. I'll be fine."

At exactly that moment Sesshomaru walked in, dressed in a suit and tie without a single hair astray, an overcoat casually thrown over his arm. It was the first time Moroha had seen him in Western-style clothing, and she was a bit taken aback. She was so accustomed to the suikan and hakama he typically wore every single day that she couldn't help but feel that he looked entirely out of place wearing that fashion.

"I'll call you once we reach our layover," Rin offered, extending her arms to rest her hands on Moroha's shoulders. She gave them a tight squeeze. "And we can talk as often as you need to!"

"What is the issue?"

The stern baritone of her uncle's voice cutting into the conversation surprised her. Moroha hadn't expected him to interject in the first place, let alone exhibit any kind of concern if that even was what he was showing. Any semblance of a reply got itself caught in Moroha's throat, but thankfully Rin answered. "I'm just worried about Moroha-chan, Sesshomaru-sama! It's such a big place, it feels empty when you are here by yourself," her aunt turned to face her, concerned. "If Jaken-sama wasn't coming along I'd ask him to stay with you, but—"

"Where is Jaken?" Sesshomaru abruptly inquired, nonchalantly looking around for the imp. "I told him to be here early."

"He's outside, he started loading up the car not long ago," Rin informed him, distracted as she looked over at the suitcases sitting by the door in the genkan. "I hope I remembered everything…"

A loud vibrating sound came from Rin's pocket, and she reached into her coat to pull out her ringing cell phone. She glanced at the screen and announced, "It's your mother, Sesshomaru-sama! Have you spoken to her yet today?"

"No."

"I hope she hasn't been trying to get a hold of us for long," Rin mused as she swiped the glass screen with her finger, bringing the phone to her ear. "Hello? **…** Yes! Yes Kimi-sama, we're doing well. Are you? **…** We're just getting everything packed into the car. **…** You called him and he didn't answer? I just asked him if he had talked to you yet and he said no. **…** Oh, of course," Rin brought the phone away from her mouth and covered the phone, as though that would prevent the inuyoukai on the other end from hearing. "Sesshomaru-sama! She's been trying to get a hold of you all morning!"

"It is easier if you speak to her," Sesshomaru replied in his usual dismissive tone as he slid into his coat. "You can both coordinate this."

Rin raised a quizzical brow but didn't say anything else as she brought the phone back to her ear. "Yes Kimi-sama, I have him here beside me. I don't know why he didn't answer his phone. You know how he is. **…** Wait, Towa wants me to bring the _what_? Give me a second, let me check…"

Rin walked back off into the house, chitchatting with her mother-in-law who was still on the line, leaving Moroha alone with her uncle. She noticed Sesshomaru observing her with a contemplative look, as though he was considering something. He looked a little annoyed, but it had been the first time in three weeks that he hadn't looked down at her with pure, outright disdain.

"I trust there won't be any issues." Sesshomaru didn't ask, simply made a statement in regards to what he expected of her.

"No, of course not."

Sesshomaru glanced in the direction of where Rin had been standing. "What was that about?"

"Oh. Nothing," Moroha replied sheepishly. She was a little shocked that he was initiating any kind of conversation with her after weeks of near silence. "Oba-san's worried about me being by myself, she thinks I will be lonely." _And_ _I'm worried about it too._

Sesshomaru looked as though he was going to respond to her, but as soon as the statement left her mouth Rin came back into the foyer, an exasperated look on her face. "Tell her I don't know where she put it, she will have to look for it when she comes back home. **…** It's around here somewhere. **…** Oh, you want to talk to Sesshomaru-sama now?"

Her uncle made a small motion with his hand signifying that he did not want to chat, but Rin shook her head. He couldn't avoid this call no matter what he tried. Moroha got the distinct feeling that Rin was used to dodging Sesshomaru's phone calls for him. "Yes Kimi-sama, he is here. I will put him on. **…** Mmhm, I will call you before we get on the plane and again after we're off the plane."

Rin extended her arm, cell phone in hand, towards Sesshomaru. When he didn't immediately take it, Rin made a small beckoning motion towards him with her hand, a bright and encouraging expression on her face. He paused for a moment, and Moroha couldn't tell if he was trying to avoid Kimi due to a deep, dark, underlying secret within their family that she just wasn't privy to… or if he simply just did not feel like talking to his mother. Both options intrigued and amused Moroha the more she thought about them.

Sesshomaru subtly sighed through his nose and, after a few moments, he reached for the phone and took it from Rin.

"I will be outside," Sesshomaru slipped on his shoes and brought the phone to his ear as he walked out onto the front porch. "Hello, Mother…"

Moroha turned her attention back to her aunt, who was now preoccupied with the luggage and checking the boxes off of her mental to-do list. "Oba-san, do you need me to help carry anything out to the car?"

Rin paused for a few seconds, looking over the suitcases with her brows furrowed, before finally nodding. "Yes Moroha-chan, that would be great, thank you… I'm _certain_ I haven't forgotten anything…"

* * *

Moroha couldn't remember having felt this bored in a long while. Everything that came to her mind felt dull, every idea monotonous. Her brain began to feel fuzzy, almost as though there was static within her consciousness.

She laid on the couch in the living room wrapped up in a blanket, in front of the television where she and Rin normally ate their evening meal together. The TV program droned on in the background, it was a documentary about something or other, but Moroha couldn't be bothered to change the channel because there was, quite literally, nothing else on. She had checked twice now and, despite it being Saturday afternoon, there was nothing interesting to watch.

 _Thankfully no one is here,_ she thought to herself, a little embarrassed about how she was sprawled out on the sofa. When Sesshomaru and Rin were home Moroha never spent much time in the living room, let alone laid on the couch out in the open for anyone to see.

She just felt _so_ bored. And lazy.

At one point she had even mulled over doing _that,_ purely as something to do to occupy her time. Moroha's hand was underneath the elastic of her pants, resting on her bare thigh as her fingers tapped a rhythm against her skin. Now that she was alone in the estate, what better opportunity would present itself? What if another never arose? But even then, no matter how many dirty things and naughty ideas she thought of, she couldn't muster up the motivation. Moroha just wasn't in the mood.

It didn't help that, now that she was alone and idle, she was starting to think about the problems that had been bothering her over the last few weeks. _If I were to ask Sesshomaru if he'd been talking to Oyaji, would he tell me?_ She mulled over that thought for what felt like the one-thousandth time that week, keeping her eyes on the television in front of her yet absorbing none of the information.

_No… He definitely wouldn't. He never answered before._

Moroha rubbed her eyes, trying to get herself out of this constant, spiraling mental loop she had found herself in over the last few weeks. She had pondered on the past too often for her own good. She had to move forward. But between thinking of her parents, the facility, everyone in it, and just generally feeling sorry for herself she hadn't considered or thought about much of anything else.

Moroha sat up from her position on her back, swinging her legs over so her feet touched the floor. _Maybe I ought to work overtime next Saturday._ She tiredly rubbed her eyes with the back of her arm and stretched. _It might keep my mind off of things._

In the corner of the screen, the station displayed the time. _16:54._ Moroha considered her options, no longer wanting to laze around on the couch. _Maybe I should visit A-Un again?_ The beast was probably napping in their field right now. Moroha had already been outside to see the dragon youkai twice. _Maybe I should eat something?_ She eyed the snacks on the end table she had already picked through and decided against ruining her appetite for later.

Suddenly she felt a mild pricking sensation on her arm, similar to a bite, and instinctively raised her hand to slap it. Moroha was startled when she felt the _squish_ of a bug as she did so.

"Ouch!"

That voice was not hers. When Moroha looked down at the floor she was outright alarmed when she realized it was… Something? Someone else? _Who is in Sesshomaru and Rin's house? And why?_

The little youkai laid flattened on the floor, and Moroha got on her hands and knees to get a closer look. It looked like some kind of critter.

"Oh, Moroha-sama!" The little youkai exclaimed, popping back up and regaining its normal, unflattened shape. "You've finally arrived!"

"Uuuh, are you supposed to be here? Who are you?" Moroha hesitantly inquired, eying the intruder. Yeah, definitely a flea. "How do you know my name?"

"Ah yes. It has been many, many years since we've last crossed paths. You probably don't remember," the demon coughed, before puffing himself back up as he began his introduction. "I am Myoga the Flea. It's good to see you again, Moroha-sama. I've been serving the members of the Taisho family for many, many generations. I've been sent to watch over you while your relatives are away."

"Myoga, huh?" Moroha was relieved to have some company, but at the same time was perplexed to hear that they had _asked_ for him to come."Why'd they tell you to do that, Myoga-jiichan?"

She was half expecting him to say that he had come there to make sure she didn't steal anything or get up to any funny business while her aunt and uncle were away. That the only reason he was here was because she wasn't trustworthy enough to be left to her own devices. But Myoga's response caught her off guard.

"There were some concerns about you being lonely, Moroha-sama. Out here, one can feel quite isolated."

She couldn't help the small side smile that cracked on her face at that. "So Oba-san sent you here, huh? She was worried."

"It was actually Sesshomaru-sama who called on me."

That shocked her, and her grin faded away into an expression of surprise. Sesshomaru? Sending someone to make sure she wasn't lonely? At the time Moroha thought he had been asking about their conversation out of concern for Rin, to make sure she wasn't stressing out too much before heading out for their flight. Moroha never would have assumed Sesshomaru would have taken it into consideration beyond the surface level.

"That's… interesting."

"Is it?" The flea demon asked, tilting his head. "He used to send for me to stay with Inuyasha-sama when he was living here as well. I like to think I'm quite good company…"

The conversation turning back to her father, as well as the idea of Sesshomaru being bothered to send someone to keep him — _them_ — company, threw her for another loop. "Oyaji used to stay here by himself?"

"Well not by _himself_. He had me here!"

She rolled her eyes a little at such an obvious retort to her question, but her mind that had been distracted by the fact that was a stranger in the house was now back to the loop it was in before. _Are he and Oyaji close? Do they still talk?_ A few questions ran through her head as she studied Myoga, her hand coming to rest on her chin as she pondered her situation. Moroha couldn't help but ask, despite having only met Myoga a few minutes before.

"Myoga-jiichan, have you heard from Oyaji at all?"

"No Moroha-sama," Myoga answered, shaking his head. "It has been many, many years since I've last seen or heard from Inuyasha-sama. After he moved to Tokyo we fell out of touch. The last time he and I spoke was when you were a baby."

 _So much for that,_ Moroha thought to herself while making a noise of acknowledgment. At least she tried. _I'll either have to let it go… or ask Sesshomaru._

Moroha imagined her father, by himself, sitting in the estate and she feels a wave of sadness and pity wash over her. He never made a point of it or said this out loud, and whenever it was mentioned by his mother he had always shrugged it off and tried to make it look like it was not a big deal. But it was clear to just about everyone who knew him that he preferred to have the company of his friends, family, or just about anyone. Loneliness made him uncomfortable, and one of his worst fears in life was ending up alone.

_Something he and I share._

The little flea youkai suddenly jumped up to land on the end of her nose, derailing her train of thought. Moroha nearly went cross-eyed trying to look at him perched there.

"Don't worry, you are in very good hands!" Before she knew it, Myoga was drinking her blood again, and he slowly became bigger with every morsel he drank. "Moroha-sama, your blood tastes almost as delicious as your grandfather's, the great Toga. I can hardly resist it, I am in heaven!"

"Myoga-jiichan, do you usually drink the blood of people you've just met and give your review on how it tastes?" With a quick slap, being mindful of her nose so she didn't hit herself in the face too hard, Myoga was flattened again and comically fell back to the floor like a piece of paper. As she watched him flutter downwards Moroha shook her head, running a hand through her hair. "Honestly!"

* * *

_**Summer of 2002** _

" _The graveyard is in… a special place," Inuyasha told Moroha as they stood by a flower stand later that morning, stretching casually while the warm sun hit the pair as they loitered in the parking lot. "Humans normally can't get to it."_

" _But we don't have a car," Moroha pointed out while peering at him over the bouquet of white flowers she held, trying to piece together what he could have meant by that._ Humans can't get to it? _Moroha pouted when her father chuckled at her obvious remark. "How would we even get there?"_

" _We don't need a_ car _to get to where we're goin'." Moroha tingled with excitement at the sly look in his eye, gleams of adventure flickering within his orbs. As though he knew something she never could even dream of understanding. "We're going to run there. Get on my back."_

_Moroha immediately climbed up onto him without hesitation. Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and she pointed the flowers away from him to keep them out of her father's face. Her legs intertwined tightly with Inuyasha's arms, gripping them as hard as she could with her thigh muscles to remain secured. Inuyasha held a firm grip on her ankles and flicked his hair away from her. Moroha leaned to peer over his shoulder, eager to see where they were headed._

" _You ready, kiddo?"_

_Moroha didn't have time to answer before he took off, crossing the road and jumping into the nature beyond it. He ran through the forest as though he knew it off the back of his hand already, as though he had run through the same path many times before. Inuyasha dodged the trees and ran through the areas that had the least amount of obstacles to impede his speed. Moroha couldn't help but instinctively duck as they ran past branches and through the bush, but her father expertly grabbed and removed anything that could have hit her before it did. She didn't get a single scratch on her._

_They never got to run unabashedly through nature like this in Tokyo. It was exhilarating, bouncing through the trees and sprinting through the forest as though nothing on the entire face of the Earth could get its claws on them, no matter how much it tried._

_As they ran deeper and deeper into the forest, a thick cloud began to form close to the ground. Beyond her father's ears, she could see nothing but thickening mist, Moroha could not even make out the trees of the forest they had just been running through. As they had gotten closer and the fog got heavier, she had been alarmed as she clung to Inuyasha's back. She wrapped her arms more tightly around him as he ran through the woods, but because her father had not given off any signal about any impending danger she remained relaxed as well. Moroha kept quiet as he ran, absorbing what she could learn about their location from what she could see through the haze._

_Finally, her father began to slow down from a run, down to a jog, and finally to a walk, but he did not release his tight grip on her legs. They were now walking through rows of headstones, marked with names and dates that Moroha would have never recognized. She wrapped her hands more tightly around Inuyasha's neck, the unfamiliarity of the environment giving her chills._

" _Oyaji, are we supposed to be here?"_

_The aura in this place felt different, as though they were on the border of the real world and… somewhere else. Somewhere magical, almost._

" _Yeah, we're fine. We just have to go a little further ahead."_

_As they ventured up the stone path between the gravestones that lined the walkway, her father finally came to a stop in front of a stone tablet in the far corner of the cemetery. She slid down from his back and gently landed on her feet, keeping her grip firm on the bouquet they were going to lay to pay respects._

_The grave was tall, made of tall, black stone etched with names that had characters she could not read and dates from eras she did not immediately recognize. Wooden stone tablets with the posthumous names of her ancestors were stacked on both sides of the grave, written with characters that Moroha wasn't able to understand. Two pots for placing flowers as well as a metal incense holder were placed at the front of the headstone, currently sitting empty._

" _This is it," Inuyasha told her, and he reached into his pants pocket to pull out the sticks of incense they had brought along with them. Under his breath, more to himself than for anyone to hear, her father muttered, "At least it's been taken care of."_

_Moroha's sensitive ears picked up on his mumbling, and feeling confused, couldn't help but inquire further. "Why wouldn't it be taken care of?"_

" _He never bothered to before," Inuyasha answered simply, and Moroha had a feeling that the 'he' her father was referring to was in fact Sesshomaru. Moroha didn't respond, not wanting to reignite any of the earlier tensions that had arisen between them over the situation. Thankfully her father didn't seem to want to delve into that any further as he changed the subject, wiping off the dust and little specks of dirt that were on the grave with his hand. "Do you want to place the flowers, Morocchi?"_

_Moroha nodded and took off the ribbon keeping the flowers tied together, splitting the bouquet into two with her hands, intending to put one bundle for each pot. She handed one stack to her father and she stood up on her toes to reach for the other, gently placing the white flowers within it._

" _Which names belong to your parents?" She asked him, inspecting the many engravings on the stone closely. There were a lot of names and dates, indicating to Moroha that this particular burial place was very, very old. "Can you read them to me?"_

_Once the flowers had been properly arranged and the grave was cleaned to Inuyasha's satisfaction, he pointed a clawed finger at two names on the front of the tablet. His finger slowly dragged along their designation, syllable by syllable, as he read their names out loud._

" _Taisho Toga, died aged 996 in the forty-fifth year of Showa…"_

_Moroha quietly gasped when her father read the age out loud, imagining the man whose remains were buried beneath their feet. Moroha could hardly wrap her mind around living for nearly one hundred years, let alone one thousand, and she imagined all the different people he would have met and the amazing things he would have seen during the ages which he was alive. She wondered if there were any other youkai buried here who were the same age as him, or even older._

_She kept her focus on her father and as Inuyasha continued reading the inscription on the stone he swallowed, a dejected look on his face as he read the name of the person following her grandfather._

"… _and Taisho Izayoi, died aged 42 in the fifty-second year of Showa."_

_Moroha gasped again, but for an entirely different reason. While her grandfather's age had impressed her due to how old he was, she was shocked by her grandmother's age due to how young she was. As Moroha watched her father she wondered if he was imagining their face, or recalling the good times they had together. Inuyasha looked physically pained as he remembered her, and briefly, Moroha wished she had gotten a chance to meet her grandmother too._

" _And those were your parents?"_

" _Yeah," he answered, although it sounded more like a whoosh of breath coming from deep within his lungs than a spoken word. Moroha could sense that he was becoming upset since his heartbeat increased, although he never let anything beyond the subtleties reveal themselves in his expression._

_No other words were spoken between them as Inuyasha lit the incense, methodically placing them once the sticks were smoking within the metal holder, as though he had done it many times before. The wind caused to smoke to blow in the opposite direction that they were facing, and the leaves from the flowers swayed in the breeze. As Moroha took it all in, she couldn't help but wonder if she, along with her mother and father, would be buried here one day as well. All of her ancestors were here, so naturally, she would be here too…_

_Suddenly her body felt heavy, as though there was some unknown force pulling her towards the Earth._

" _When we die we're going to be buried here too, right Oyaji?"_

_Inuyasha's expression changed quickly within a matter of seconds, going from slight upset, to being outright startled, and finally to contemplative as he thought about how to answer such a question from a five-year-old. Moroha wondered if he regretted bringing her here after all, and she suddenly felt silly for having even brought it up in the first place._

"… _I don't know, Morocchi," Inuyasha finally answered after what felt like an eternity. When he moved his hand to rest on her shoulder she instinctively leaned against him, enjoying the warmth of his body. "I don't plan on us dyin' anytime soon. It won't happen for a long,_ long time _," Moroha got the impression that he was reassuring himself of that fact more than he was reassuring her. "So don't worry about it. Alright?"_

_Moroha nodded in agreement, her previous feelings of apprehension fading. However she didn't get the opportunity to voice anything else that she was thinking, because as soon as she turned to her father he removed his hand from her shoulder and placed both hands flat against one another, close to his chest, and he tilted his head forward to pray. She watched him as she emulated his posture, mimicking the way he held his hands before bowing her own head to appeal to those who passed before her. Moroha wasn't entirely sure what she should say, if anything at all, so she wished for what felt right._

Please watch over our family, our entire family. Keep us happy and keep us safe. _Moroha clenched her eyes even more tightly shut, as though that would help her wishes come true if she willed it hard enough._ Especially Oyaji. I think he needs it more than any of us.

_When Moroha's eyes opened to the world again, she saw her father looking at her out of the corner of her eye with a small smile crossing his features. She wasn't sure what he was thinking at this moment. But as they stood together in front of the grave, looking at one another, Moroha couldn't help but feel that the last few days had been so petty, and ridiculous. She was thankful they were both alive. Together. Right now._

" _I hope we're together forever, Oyaji," Moroha told him, grasping his hand in both of her own, tracing the callouses on his hand with the pads of her fingers. It was corny, she knew, but she felt compelled to tell him. To let her father know how she really felt at this moment. "I mean it! Forever!"_

_Moroha leaned into him again as he ruffled her hair, wrapping her arms around his waist as they stood in front of the gravesite._

" _Forever," Inuyasha promised, hugging her as closely as he was able while they both looked onwards toward the headstone._

* * *

Moroha stood at the glass sliding door leading to the back yard porch, taking in the dark rural landscape and she sipped on hot chocolate. Myoga was also perched on her shoulder, sharing the view in contemplative silence. The weather was cold and uninviting tonight, emphasized by the sound of the blustering winds outside. The sky had gotten dark, and the precipitation falling outdoors was a combination of rain and cold slush. It landed on the green spring grass that was just starting to appear beneath the snow, which had just been melting away only a few hours prior.

Moroha had debated on asking Myoga if he wanted to go to the mystical youkai graveyard that her father had taken her to as a child. While she had been making a drink the flea demon had continued to rave over the taste of her blood, claiming that it had tasted nearly as good as her grandfathers once had. Once he had brought up Toga, she couldn't help but think back to the time she and Oyaji last visited her grandfather many years ago. But she doubted the flea demon would go for it. When she had suggested they go for a normal walk earlier he had vehemently refused, citing the lack of light and the weather as dangerous. Moroha could sense the fear coming off the youkai — and Myoga certainly didn't seem like the adventurous type — so Moroha had dropped the idea before she even voiced it.

She let out a breath through her nose, turning her head to look over her shoulder. Her eyes met the scroll that hung where Tessaiga, Tenseiga, and So'unga were once displayed. The scroll was not written in Japanese, but an ancient language written in a script that Moroha couldn't even begin to comprehend. She couldn't recognize the alphabet being used, either. Moroha absentmindedly wondered why they hung it there after they had removed the swords.

"Has that piece caught your eye, Moroha-sama?" Myoga quipped, and he jumped off her shoulder towards the tapestry on the wall. "I know what the scroll entails, should I read it to you? I'm quite fluent if I do say so myself."

"Actually, I was thinking about something else," Moroha confessed, looking back down towards the youkai on the ground. "The last time I was here that was where Tessaiga was hung."

"Ah yes, it was!" Myoga exclaimed, and he seemed excited at the mention of the sword. "You must have the same appreciation for Tessaiga that your father does."

"Well, I don't know if I'll ever _appreciate it_ as much as he does…" Moroha admitted, smiling a little as she thought of her father's enthusiasm for the blade. If their apartment complex had ever caught fire, her father would run out of the building carrying Tessaiga with both hands. It was his most prized possession. "… but it's pretty cool."

"Tessaiga is more than just 'cool,' Moroha-sama! This blade was passed down from a very powerful inuyoukai who lived long ago," Myoga explained, seemingly lost in thought as he recalled the narrative behind the katana. "It has a fascinating history."

As Moroha stood in almost the same spot where she had first observed Tessaiga nearly twenty years ago, more questions about the blade crossed her mind. Moroha pictured the incomplete collection now tucked away in the corner of her uncle's office, and she wondered if it ever bothered him to only have two of the three sitting there. Back then, she felt that Tessaiga had caused far too much trouble than what it was worth, for a rusty blade anyway. But to Oyaji and Sesshomaru, it was incredibly important, a priceless family heirloom neither one wanted to let go of first.

"Myoga-jiichan, do you know why Sesshomaru ended up giving Tessaiga back to my dad?" Moroha's eyes were still fixed on the scroll that took the place of where the blades were once displayed. "I mean, if the sword is so valuable and all…"

"I do not know what finally possessed Sesshomaru-sama to finally give Tessaiga back to Inuyasha-sama," Myoga admitted, closing his eyes as he recalled the situation and relayed it. "There was no written will, however, it was always Toga-sama's intention for Inuyasha to inherit it. Sesshomaru had always been against the idea of giving it to him as their father desired, but he became even more resistant to the idea once Setsuna and Towa were born."

There were a few lengthy moments of contemplative silence, and Moroha assumed that Myoga was done with his explanation. But then the youkai opened his eyes, and he cautiously continued to speak.

"But as you know, Moroha-sama, Tessaiga chooses its master. Not the other way around," the flea demon brought one of his hands to his chin, a pensive look on his face. "I have a feeling that may have something to do with it. Once we all found out it was gone, none of us were surprised. It felt as though Tessaiga was finally in the right hands."

Moroha wasn't exactly sure what Myoga could have meant by that. Was the sword sentient? How did it choose its wielder? She wasn't sure if it was something she would ever understand, but she couldn't help but one-hundred percent agree with the sentiment that it belonged to him materially and, perhaps, spiritually. On the day Inuyasha had finally gotten the blade back in his possession, he had been so relieved. As though Tessaiga was finally where it was meant to be all along.

Myoga suddenly jumped up from his position on the floor and onto Moroha's shoulder, waving his arms to get her attention as another train of thought crossed his mind. "Are there any other artifacts in here you would like to know about, Moroha-sama? I have extensive knowledge on all of the possessions within this estate if you want to hear more…"

* * *

_**Summer of 2002** _

_Summer break was finally approaching its end, the season fading away to shorter days, colder nights, and colorful leaves emerging on the trees. They had come back from their road trip around Japan about a week or two ago, and since then it felt that time was in a race against itself to finish the season. Moroha couldn't help but be miffed at the fact that she had less than a week of vacation left, and sooner than later life would fall back into its normal routine and she would have to head back to school._

_Even in their apartment, with the curtains closed so that only a few rays of sunlight shone through, the humidity and heat of the late afternoon sun lingered in the air. It was brutally hot, and the multiple fans blowing onto their sweating bodies didn't seem to help that fact. She and her father had both been content to lay in the direction of the blowing air, being thankful that, at the very least, time was approaching the end of the day and the sun would soon let up in its intensity._

_Moroha sprawled out on the couch, only wearing a t-shirt and shorts, sweating as she laid directly in front of the fans. The white noise caused by the blades of the fans filled the room, and as they drowned out the outside noises from the city it made her feel a little sleepy. She cracked one eye open and looked down at the end of the couch where her father sat, leaning back with his feet resting on top of the coffee table. He sat in front of two fans, one that was focused on him and another that was rotating between them both, flapping the ballcap he always wore in front of his face to get some extra breeze._

" _Oyaji," Moroha whined, sitting up in an attempt to prevent herself from dozing off. This weather was making her even more tired than normal. "Do we have any more ice candy?"_

" _Yes," he replied quietly as the breeze propelled from the fan brushed his bangs away from his face, his eyes remaining closed. Inuyasha was determined to exert as little energy as possible during this smoldering heatwave._

" _Can we have some?" Moroha asked, wiping away the sweat on her forehead with the back of her arm. "I'm really hot. I want cherry. Or grape."_

_Inuyasha seemed as though he was going to respond to her, maybe get up to get them both a cold treat from their freezer, but suddenly the sounds of a doorknob rustling and a key jimmying the lock entered both their ears. Moroha bolted upwards and looked at the clock. This was right around the time her mother came home from work, and excitement filled her._

" _Mama is home!" Moroha announced, as though that wasn't obvious to either of them as they sat in the living room. Inuyasha stopped waving the cap in front of himself and raised an eyebrow at the sounds coming from behind the door, and he sat up a bit further. The struggle with opening and unlocking the door was going on for far longer than it usually would._

_Finally, the lock of the door clicked and it swung wide open. Kagome finally walked into the genkan, her hands and arms full with food and everything else they had needed for the next few days. She was carrying so many things that it almost looked comical._

" _Mama!" Moroha exclaimed, happy to see Kagome. "You're home!"_

" _Yes. Hi, Morocchi," her mother greeted through gritted teeth, the weight of everything in the bags causing the plastic handles to cut into her arms, leaving red welts. Kagome peeked through a crack in the pile within her arms. "Can someone help me?"_

" _What did I tell you about carrying all this shit up the stairs all at one time, Kagome?" Inuyasha sprung up from the sofa to help her, and Moroha had to catch one of the fans as it nearly fell over in her father's haste. "It's way too hot to carry everything all at once, anyway."_

" _I know, I know. I just didn't want to make more than one trip," Kagome said, letting out a breath of relief from the lightened load as Inuyasha grabbed some of the bags she was carrying and took them to the kitchen. "We got some packages in the mail too, so I have more than usual. One of them is really heavy."_

_Moroha perked up, her curiosity piqued. She looked at her mother, confused. "We got packages?"_

" _We did!" Kagome shut the door with her foot and kicked her shoes off, stepping out of the genkan and walked towards where her father had headed. "I think one of them had your name on it, Morocchi."_

_Now Moroha was intrigued, so much so that she had forgotten how impossibly hot she had been just minutes ago. She could not ever recall a time when she had gotten a package before. Moroha jumped up from the couch and hurriedly followed her mother into the kitchen area, fuelled by her curiosity and eager to see what they had received. Her father had unceremoniously dumped the bags onto their kitchen counter, clearly just as curious as she was to see what they had gotten in the mail. He was already impatiently waiting when she and her mother entered._

" _Who sent them?" Inuyasha asked as Kagome placed two packages onto the table, examining them as she sighed from no longer carrying all that weight. Moroha stood up on her tiptoes beside her father, looking for the package that had her name on it. One bundle was a square box and the other was a long rectangle._

" _I have no clue," Kagome told them, leaning for a moment just to catch her breath. She waved a hand in front of her face in an attempt to cool off, her voice hoarse. "You'll have to see when you open them."_

" _Geez, sit down and have some water, Kagome. You look like you're overheatin'!"_

_As he turned away from the table to grab her mother something to drink and they began to idly chitchat, she examined the square box that rested on the table. She could see the characters that made up her name handwritten clearly on the side, almost beckoning to her. Moroha stood even further on her tiptoes and reached for it over the table, attempting to pull it towards her._

_Her mother was suddenly behind her, grabbing the wrapping at the corner of the package and pulled it closer to her daughter without tearing it. Kagome had finally caught her breath, and she took another long sip from her water bottle as she watched Moroha place the parcel down on the ground to open it. Her father stepped around her to go back to the table to examine the second one they had received, but Moroha was so focused on what was in front of her that she barely noticed._

" _I wonder what you got, Morocchi?" Kagome mused, leaning against the counter as she watched Moroha tear the wrapping off with her claws and eagerly open the box. "I don't think we were expecting anything…"_

_Within the box, there were two other packets, one that was smaller and another that was larger. On the smaller box there was a note, simply taped to the front of the package and handwritten on bright, colorful stationery. Moroha removed it gently, holding the letter carefully between her claws as she read it._

**Come visit us one day soon, we miss you! - T & S**

_Moroha's eye furrowed as she handed the note to her mother, still confused as to who could have sent this and why. She tore the little bit of tape holding everything closed with the tip of her fingernail. When the box snapped open, everything suddenly made sense and she was overjoyed to see the object that was inside._

" _My doll!" She exclaimed, grabbing the stuffed animal from within the box and tossing the rest of the packaging unceremoniously to the side. Moroha nearly jumped up and down from excitement. She thought that she wouldn't get to see her doll again for a long, long time. If ever. "The doll I had left there…! Towa and Setsuna sent it back!"_

_Her mother crouched down, smiling at how animated and happy her daughter was. "Aww, they sent your dolly back to you! That's great, Morocchi!"_

" _I'm really glad," Moroha confessed, grinning as she stared into the doll's beady, black eyes. She looked the doll over to make sure nothing was wrong with it. The ears, her favorite part, in particular, had been left intact. "I've missed this!"_

" _What else did they send?"_

_Moroha handed the doll to her mother and pulled out the other packet, eager to see what other spoils had been sent to her. There were no toys or anything else to play with inside of the second box, but it was filled to the brim with a mix of candies, chocolates, and other small goodies. Moroha pulled out some of her favorites so she could snack on them, forgetting about the ice candy she had craved earlier._

" _Aww, how nice!" Kagome cooed, looking through the assortment of candies that laid in the parcel. She picked it up from the floor as she stood back up, Moroha's attention now back on the doll that had been returned to her. "We'll have to go shopping and send Towa and Setsuna a thank you gift, Morocchi. Won't that be fun?"_

_Moroha nodded in agreement, making a mental list of all the souvenirs and candies she wanted to send to her cousins at a later date. Her mind raced with ideas of what she could send for her own parcel. There were so many places in Tokyo they could stop by to shop at, too… She wanted Towa and Setsuna to be completely blown away, after such a nice gesture on their end._

" _You're awfully quiet over there, Inuyasha," her mother mentioned after a few moments of silence, looking through the cupboards trying to decide where to put Moroha's candy for the time being. "What did they send to you?"_

_The waves of curiosity washed over her as soon as she remembered there was a second parcel waiting to be opened. With her doll in hand, she walked up behind her father, trying to see what was on the table. All she could see was the long, rectangular wooden box which was made out of tougher cardboard. She wasn't tall enough to make out what was inside._

_When she looked up at her fathers he had a contemplative, but triumphant, expression on his face._

_Inuyasha looked as though he had_ won _._

" _What did you get, Oyaji? Show me!"_

_His grin only widened as he reached for the prize inside to show her, his one hand remaining on the sheath and the other on the hilt of the blade as he took it from the wooden parcel._

" _Is that…?" Her mother began to ask, walking around to the other side of Moroha so she could get a better look. Kagome looked very, very surprised once she figured out what it was. "Did Sesshomaru really…?"_

" _Yep," Inuyasha answered, admiring the sheathed weapon as it lay flat in the palms of his hands. "Tessaiga. He sent me Tessaiga."_

_Moroha was puzzled as to why her parents reveled in the blade's presence, tossing theories between one another as to why it was sent to them. Moroha leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table as she studied Tessaiga up close and personal for the first time. When her father finally removed the sheath to reveal the old, rusty katana within she felt even more underwhelmed. The sheath was ordinary, wooden and black, and the sword still looked like it was too old to cut through anything effectively. Could it not have been repaired before it was sent to them?_

" _Decide where you want to put it, Inuyasha," Kagome told him as she walked out of the kitchen and rounded the corner to go down the hallway. "I'm going to fill the bath. I need to change, these clothes are gross. Once you figure out a place I'll come back and get it."_

_Her father hadn't even replied to what she said, admiring the blade as he held it and taken with the novelty of Tessaiga to notice much of anything else going on around him. He turned his arm, intensely examining the sword from every angle. It was only when Moroha's voice cut through the silence that he snapped out of his stupor for long enough to pay attention._

" _I don't like that sword," Moroha said, her tone completely deadpan. She crossed her arms and shook her head as she observed it. Moroha had been happy to leave Tessaiga in the past where it belonged. "It's rusty and old anyway, no one has taken care of it. So what good does it do?"_

_A mischievous look crossed her father's face, similar to the expression he had worn before they ran off together to the youkai gravesite. There was a strange, almost wicked twinkle in his eye as gold met brown._

" _Keh. That's because you haven't seen_ it _yet."_

"It _?" Moroha asked, tilting her head. "What do you mean?"_

 _Inuyasha did not offer any kind of verbal reply, his smirk only widening at her question. She couldn't even begin to fathom what he could have meant by 'it.'_ Did Oyaji have enough water to drink? Is the heat finally getting to his head?

_But just as soon as she had those thoughts Moroha jumped a little, not expecting Inuyasha to suddenly extend the arm holding Tessaiga outward and away from her, pointed towards their small apartment kitchen. He licked his lips in anticipation as he looked between Tessaiga and her for a few moments, making sure that Moroha was paying close attention. As though this was something that she wouldn't want to miss for the life of her._

" _You ready?"_

_Moroha nodded, keenly anticipating what he was about to show her. At that exact moment, Kagome rounded the corner to ask him where he was planning to store the blade._

" _Inuyasha, have you decided where you're going to put— Wait! No no no, not in my kitchen—!"_

_But it was too late. In a split second, a bright light encompassed the sword, and it slowly traveled up from the hilt of the blade to the end of the tip. The handle was outlined with thick, white fur, and the hilt was no longer tattered with loose fabric that was wearing away. Beneath the light the sword transformed into its true form, the rusted and chipped metal underneath giving way to the impressive and oversized blade that made up the sword's true form._

A fang! _She didn't muffle the wonder-filled gasp that escaped from her mouth._ Tessaiga is a fang!

" _Wow! Oyaji, what did you do to make it do that? That's amazing!"_

_Inuyasha smirked slyly at his daughter's face, which was in complete and utter awe. Her jaw had dropped as she observed the sword in its transformed state, her eyes wide as she took it all in._

" _Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out, her voice trilling on the syllables of his name. Kagome shook her head at him vehemently, motioning with her arms to indicate that she was not pleased. "Don't play around with Tessaiga in the middle of the kitchen!"_

" _It's only for a minute Kagome," Inuyasha assured her, his eyes not leaving Moroha's face. She was still looking at it, amazement written all over her face, and he basked in the glow of it. "Morocchi's never seen it before."_

" _I don't care! You shouldn't be using…_ this _, or_ any _sword in the apartment! What if someone gets hurt?"_

" _Oh quit complainin', would ya?" Her father shook his head at her mother's nagging but triggered the blade to transform back from its fighting form. Moroha's eyes widened again as the fang shrunk back to the rusted blade she was accustomed to. "D'you hear that, Morocchi? We can't have a good time around here, we're not allowed. We ain't allowed to have any fun."_

" _Swords aren't meant to be_ fun _, Inuyasha! Someone might get hurt!"_

" _Keh!" Inuyasha placed Tessaiga back in its sheath, putting back into the box it had been sent in. "Whatever!"_

_As her parents began to bicker in the background, as they always did, Moroha tuned them out as she walked back up to the table to take in the sight of the sword even though it was now sheathed. Now that she had seen it transformed, had a glimpse of what Tessaiga was really capable of, her appreciation for the blade increased tenfold. Instead of the useless piece of junk she had once taken Tessaiga for, she saw it as it was: a truly formidable and mysterious weapon. Something worth caring about. The depths in which Oyaji cared for the weapon made her cherish it even more._

_Something inside Moroha told her to reach out for the weapon, to at least hold the hilt in her hand. But Moroha kept her hand firmly to herself at her side, not wanting to get into trouble especially in the aftermath of her mother's anger of it having been out in the first place. But as she gazed at Tessaiga she thought that, maybe, if she asked nicely, her father would let her hold it one day. Hell, maybe she'd even get to_ wield it _one day._

 _Moroha placed her elbows on the table and rested her face in her palms, daydreaming of taking Tessaiga on wild adventures to slay evil youkai and to save the world._ I guess Tessaiga is pretty cool after all…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so, so sorry for the length of this and the amount of time it took! I hope I don't fall into a pattern of outdoing myself on the word count each time I upload a new chapter. Nearly 15K words for this one, geez! I hope this chapter didn't move too slowly. I had a bit of trouble writing some scenes, deciding if certain ones should stay or go, etc. The editing process tends to take me a little longer because I tend to reread what I've written over and over.
> 
> I appreciate everyone who left me comments both on AO3 and FF.net, your feedback has been amazing and has motivated me to keep going! I hope you all continue to enjoy the story and the direction it is heading in. As always, I look forward to your encouraging words and your feedback!


End file.
